How to Get a Free FICO Score

Your FICO score is a very important indicator of how well you're doing credit wise. It is used to determine whether or not you'll receive a mortgage, car loan and many other important large purchases. FICO scores can be retrieved at a small cost but there are some ways to obtain your credit report and sometimes your score for free.

Things You'll Need

• Social security number
• Personal data
• Credit websites and resources

Instructions

1. Gather together information about yourself such as your social security number, past addresses and current pertinent financial information. All of this will be necessary in order to pull up your FICO score.

2. Determine if you've received your free credit report for the year. In September 2005, the US government began offering free annual credit reports for all citizens. Find out when the last time you pulled your credit report, and see if you can get it again for the year.

3. Applying for a mortgage will give you a free FICO score. Mortgage lenders are required to give this information to the consumer by law. Of course, only do this if you plan to purchase a home, but it will provide you with access to an accurate FICO score for free.

4. Use resources to help you get a ballpark figure of what your FICO score might be. This is not the real number but by entering in certain factors, you can obtain a fairly accurate estimate of your credit score.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to only pull your free annual credit report when you need it. Otherwise, you will not have the most up to date and accurate score for another entire year.

• Be sure to look for any discrepancies or errors on your credit report. If you find one, notify the credit bureaus right away so it can be corrected.