Credit Reports, FICO Scores, and Opt Out - Posted by David Russell

Real Estate Investing Real Estate Financing
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Posted by David Russell on October 19, 2001 at 12:39:00:

Nope! cookies weren’t turned off… it was their site. The only phone number I could find was in the little popup that said you had to have your cookies turned on, and if you had problems to call that number. They explained that their “site is down” and that the three attempts to use it would be charged and credited because the site recognized it wasn’t working. I ended up getting my FICO score for free, and never saw my credit report.

If you’ve got some useful names and numbers to post, please do. I don’t want to go all over the net searching for them… if I’m going to need them, it would be nice to find them in one place. You might explain what I’d do with a “registered agent”, if that’s what you call 'em. Why I’d need it, and what I’d do with it. That would be a big help, I think…

Thanks again.
David

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Credit Reports, FICO Scores, and Opt Out - Posted by David Russell

Posted by David Russell on October 18, 2001 at 20:10:17:

There are three major credit bureaus in the US: Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax. Each of these sources produces reports and a ?FICO score? that lenders use to determine credit worthiness. I haven?t figured out whether there are one, or three, FICO scores. So I?m getting my score from each to compare.

Everybody receives offers for ?a free copy of your credit report? if you?ll sign up for? yada, yada, yada?, and hopefully we all turn these down. And you are entitled by law to a ?free copy? of your report if you are turned down for credit for any reason. You just send the credit bureau the official letter of turn-down and get the ?free? report. Think about this before doing that: what if the credit bureau you are using does not know about the turned down credit? What have you just told them? Right! You?ve just volunteered information to the credit bureau that they didn?t know.

Rich people pay for credit reports. You can get your credit report for as little as $8.00, or your credit report and FICO score for $12.95. I?m going to give you phone numbers and web sites to use to do this. My personal opinion is that you should not sign up for yearly reports, or for the ?consolidated report? that Experian offers. If you ask for the consolidated report, you?ve just given them permission to get the information from Trans Union and Equifax? Information that they might not already have. I don?t want to tell them ANYTHING that they do not already know.

Experian
1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com * this is a new site, and doesn?t appear very stable

Trans Union
1-800-888-4213
no web site ? also appears to be free by phone and sent by mail

Equifax
1-800-685-1111
www.credit.equifax.com * this site throw errors every time I try to use it?L

You can also get your FICO score from www.myfico.com for $12.95; but I don?t see any reason to do so based on the above companies giving it to you with the credit reports.

One more interesting number. If you want to get off the mailing lists of all four (the three above and one called ?Inovis?) credit bureaus call the following single number and follow the instructions:

1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688)

This will stop the mailing from credit card companies that offer ?pre-approved? credit cards. There IS NO SUCH THING as a pre-approved credit card. If you read the fine print you will see that they have the right to run a credit report if you accept this ?pre-approved? offer. Each and every credit report run is a negative action against your FICO score if the credit is not granted.

One way to keep from having ANYBODY run a credit report against you is to have your own copy. If it is current, within 90 days, you can put on the credit application that they ?may run a credit report ONLY if the credit is granted? subject to the attached credit report?. You then attach your credit report to the credit application, and since it is true and honest, they will grant or deny the credit based on this? without taking a report. If they approve the credit and do take a report, it does not negatively affect your FICO score.

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Just have a loan officer… - Posted by dewCO

Posted by dewCO on October 19, 2001 at 19:33:23:

pull one for you. Most larger companies,(and evenmy small one) call get them pulled from all 3 bureaus WITH all 3 FICO scores for $17.00–or less.

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Re: Credit Reports, FICO Scores, and Opt Out - Posted by JD

Posted by JD on October 19, 2001 at 11:52:45:

thanks for the information. I know it is available on the web if I look for it, but it is nice to have it all in one location. I didnt have any problem with the equifax online credit report service, maybe you had your cookies turned off. If you are looking to expand upon what you already have, it would also be nice to have the names and mailing addresses of the registered agents and corporate officers of the credit reporters so someone could serve them easily with a summons if need be.

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Re: Just have a loan officer… - Posted by David Russell

Posted by David Russell on October 19, 2001 at 20:27:20:

you don’t seem to understand. you DO NOT want anyone to “pull one” unless they give you credit. Get them yourself, get them individually. If you let one company get all three you have no guarantee that the company doesn’t compare and use the information they have just legally “pulled” against you.

Get your own copy and when you apply for credit, do NOT authorize a credit report; but instead, attach your own copy… with a report allowed if they grant credit on the basis of the one attached.

This way, only the ones who grant credit to you are shown as having taken a report.