Can I Get a Free Credit Report FICO Score?

Credit reports and FICO scores are two different things, both related to your creditworthiness in the eyes of lenders. You actually have three credit reports, compiled by agencies called Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The bureaus also calculate credit scores, which are quick indicators of your credit rating, but Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) is the biggest score provider. You are entitled to review your reports and scores.

Legal Requirements

The credit reporting agencies are forced to provide free credit reports by a federal regulation called the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Federal Trade Commission website explains that annualcreditreport.com is the only official website for ordering these legally mandated no-cost reports, and you are limited to one copy from each bureau within a 12-month period. You may order your FICO credit score, but the scoring company is allowed to charge you for it.

Alternatives

The credit bureaus and the Fair Isaac Corporation scoring company sometimes offer no-cost reports or scores tied into some type of purchase or membership obligation. FICO is the developer of the original scoring formula, and the bureaus have their own variations. The FTC explains that free offers are tied into signing up for credit monitoring or identity theft protection for a monthly fee. These sites ask for credit card information and provide a free trial, then charge you if you forget to cancel. The annualcreditreport.com website never asks for payment information.

Additional Free Reports

Federal law entitles you to additional free credit reports if you get rejected for credit, even if you recently ordered your annual report entitlement less than a year earlier. Any lender that rejects you must provide specific written reasons and disclose the credit bureaus from which it received its information. You get 30 days to request report copies from those bureaus. Review them in case the rejection was based on inaccurate information. The FTC explains that you can challenge it, and the bureaus are obligated to fix it within 30 days if your complaint has merit.

Considerations

You can get a general idea of your credit score range by using your free credit reports if you know the most important factors in score calculation. Credit scoring website MyFICO explains that 35 percent of the score is based on how promptly you pay bills, while owed debt is 30 percent. The time frame during which you have used credit makes up 15 percent of the number, with types of accounts and new credit each counting for 10 percent.

References

• Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: Your Credit Report, What it Says About You
• Federal Trade Commission: Your Access to Free Credit Reports
• Federal Trade Commission: How to Dispute Credit Report Errors
• New York State Consumer Protection Board: Credit Discrimination, Don't Be a Victim
• MyFICO: What's In Your FICO Score

Resources

• AnnualCreditReport.com