Credit Reports and Fico Score

[kartoons19]

I am planning on filing chp 7 later this month. I have already used my one free credit report for the year, but would like to be able to keep tabs on my score/reports before and after the BK process. Can anyone recommend a service for doing this? I know there are a lot of them out there. Or is it better just to go through each of the 3 credit bureaus? I don't want to spend a lot of money on this. TIA for your suggestions.

[DebtHater]

I am planning on filing chp 7 later this month. I have already used my one free credit report for the year, but would like to be able to keep tabs on my score/reports before and after the BK process. Can anyone recommend a service for doing this? I know there are a lot of them out there. Or is it better just to go through each of the 3 credit bureaus? I don't want to spend a lot of money on this. TIA for your suggestions.

You are entitled to one free credit report a year from each credit bureau!

What I do is stagger the three. Say this month I'll get Experian's, in four months Trans Union's and four months after that get Equifax's.

In your case, what ever one you recently got, get one of the others now.

My recommendation is only deal with www.annualcreditreport.com. You will not get charged utilizing them using the above formula. All of the other "free" credit reporting websites have angles to get you to send them your money.

[SMinGA]

In some states - its 2 free per year per bureau. GA is one of them, so I know. But to get the 2nd, I can't go thru the website. Must mail in a form...

You can also get a free report if you've been denied credit, a bank account, insurance, a job, etc.

I personally would not invest $ in monitoring a credit score unless getting ready to buy a mortgage or something major of the like.

[kartoons19]

Thanks for your responses. In CO we only get one free report per year, and I already got my report for all 3 bureaus a few months ago, although I didn't get my score. Since I'm not applying for credit in the near future, it appears that I will just have to purchase my report and score. I knew there were a lot of scams out there, so thanks for the recommendation for www.annualcreditreport.com and for the suggestion of staggering your reports.

[mamaluv]

If you really want to know your credit score, you can purchase it at myfico.com. (EQ & TU only)

[SMinGA]

Its more than just applying for credit that can get you a free report. Its any adverse reaction. Such as if you apply for new auto insurance - credit is used by some companies in determining rates. Also if you are unemployed, on public assistance, have been the victim of fraud - or believe you may have been, it could mean you have access to a free report. And if you dispute items, you're entitled to an updated copy once the dispute process is over.

Some creditors will do soft-pulls to see if you're eligible for an account. Household.com / orchardbank.com is one. They don't actually pull your full credit report unless you submit an application - but you can run a pre-qualifier. Bank of America has something similar, but I think they just check to see if they've sent you any offers recently.

Here is a link to Experian - for adverse action/free report:

http://www.experian.com/reportaccess/

And Equifax:

https://aa.econsumer.equifax.com/aad/landing.ehtml

I don't have TU's saved.

Thanks for your responses. In CO we only get one free report per year, and I already got my report for all 3 bureaus a few months ago, although I didn't get my score. Since I'm not applying for credit in the near future, it appears that I will just have to purchase my report and score. I knew there were a lot of scams out there, so thanks for the recommendation for www.annualcreditreport.com and for the suggestion of staggering your reports.

[kartoons19]

Mamaluv and SMinGa,

Thanks for the information and the links. I appreciated it.

[bluejeans]

Think this is TU's: http://annualcreditreport.transunion...tSituation.jsp

[hooferator]

I've tried to get the free reports in the past, and I had very little luck. Experian, in particular, never once accepted my online request in five years of trying. I was always told to mail in a form, a utility bill (impossible because my rent included utilities) and a copy of my driver's license.

I did telemarketing for a while (hides) and one of our products was PrivacyGuard by BoA. YMMV, but from other employees who had it I only heard good things, and the only negative we knew about was that it counts as an inquiry when they pull your reports each month. But in our current financial state, I doubt that even matters. You get all three plus the scores (and the scores aren't free annually; I've checked), plus they'll notify you of new accounts and stuff. There's also up to $25,000 in "insurance" in case your identity is stolen and you need to pay attorneys, etc.

I never thought I'd be advocating something BoA had to offer, particularly after what they did to my interest rate (precipitating my current situation). But as a temp measure, that's what I'll be using prior to and during my filing.