Being a lender and hearing just about everything under the sun on the web, is what prompted me to write about credit. I read all kinds of information in regards to annualcreditreport.com and credit reports in general. The one thing I never hear is the negative side to the FTC mandated site www.annualcreditreport.com. Let me ask you this. Do you think creditors pull your credit report without credit scores? The answer is no…. Your credit score is the single most important number you will ever encounter. Here is what annualcreditreport.com does and does not offer free once a year.
The positive side to annualcreditreport.com
When you go to this site, you do get your credit report from each bureau for free once a year. Or you probably have read you can space out your credit report and get a copy from each credit bureau once ever 4 months or so for free. This site does not make you enter credit card number on a trial basis for your report either. This is the good side to this offer mandated by the government.
The negative side to annualcreditreport.com
When you go to annualcreditreport.com to get your free once a year credit report, you will not get your credit scores. You also don’t get any type of credit monitoring at this site for free. Do you think pulling your credit report once a year is good enough for proper credit management? The answer to this is no, you need to pull your credit report every two to three months. Did you know that your credit score can change within 30 days because of inaccuracies on your credit report? Most people don’t know this and assume pulling your credit report once a year without any credit scores is sufficient. Recent studies show that most credit reports have the wrong information being reported on them that can ultimately affect your credit rating. Did you know the first thing banks, auto lenders, credit card companies look at is your credit score?
When I pull credit reports for potential borrowers, I find that most of the reports have information on them that are incorrect. I ask the potential borrower when was the last time you check your credit. The answer is usually never….. This is an invitation for most lenders to take advantage of you, by charging high rates and high fees.
Annualcreditreport.com is a good tool, but is not the complete solution for proper credit management. If you are looking to get your credit report, you must consider getting your credit scores as well. A price of $17 to $20 bucks to see your credit scores is a small price to pay to save on high interest rates and outragous fees on loans. Also remember you need to see your credit score from each credit bureau. Credit Bureaus are always different in regards to how they score you and report information about you.
Author: Mike Clover
CreditScoreQuick.com
