With all the attention given to the importance of credit scores combined with an equal amount of attention devoted to how consumers can get a credit report, little attention is devoted on how to get a credit score. One of the most frequent requests from consumers that are working on improving their credit is how do I get my credit score.
The importance of credit reports for financial matters and other obligations such as insurance and employment led to the creation of legislation that gave us The Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Fair Credit Reporting Act made it possible for consumers to obtain a free copy of their credit report from each of the three major reporting agencies in the U.S. Unfortunately, the Act does not provide a means in which consumers can obtain a free credit score. In fact, the Act does nothing for consumers looking to obtain a free credit score or any credit score. So consumers continue to ask, how do I get my credit score.
When a consumer accesses the free credit report site, annualcreditreport.com, users are eventually given an opportunity to purchase a credit score from the credit reporting agencies that provide the credit reports. The key is, the consumer has to buy their credit score results. No free credit score with through this channel.
There are several means in which someone can obtain a credit score, but for the most part, they are not free. In most situations, the credit scores providers require some form of agreement for another fee based service and then the credit score is provided. In other situations, the consumer may acquire the credit score for little to no cost but the credit score is one that is not widely accepted in the lending industry and thus has significantly less value.
For consumers that need to see a copy of their current credit score, it is generally recommended that they obtain their FICO credit score. The FICO Score is used by most major U.S. lenders including most all bank mortgage lenders and the top auto loan lenders. The Fako credit scores or non-FICO credit scores can have some value by providing the consumer an approximate idea of where their credit score stands but these non-FICO credit scores are not widely accepted.
The financial reform law or Dodd-Frank Act that was recently signed into law by President Obama has provisions that allow consumers to see their credit scores for free under certain circumstances. Under the new Dodd-Frank Act, if certain types of creditors deny a consumer’s loan or credit application because of the individual’s credit score, the creditor is required to tell the consumer their credit score without charge.
FICO Scores can be obtain directly from the producer of the credit score of model as well as through a number of credit monitoring companies that offer the credit score when you sign up for the monthly monitoring service for a monthly fee.
While the credit score is important it is equally important to remember that a credit score is a mathematical model that evaluates information in a credit report and that credit report is the entire basis for a credit score.
So what is the answer to, how do I get my credit score? The options include: paying the company that is the dominant player in creating credit scores, get turned down for a large credit based purchase or enroll in a monthly credit monitoring service.
See also Get Credit Scores