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The following credit resource question was submitted by a Minter on Mint’s Facebook page.

Question: “Why is it incredibly cumbersome to get your credit report and FICO score? There are so many detours, traps, and dead-ends! Where can I go to go to get trustworthy information about my credit history and credit score?”

Answer: This question exposes what many of us in the credit space already know…it’s a jungle out there!

Smart consumers understand that it’s important to have good credit. The first step to maintaining a good credit score is to get your credit reports from time to time so you can see what the credit bureaus are saying about you. T

his process is supposed to be easy enough so claiming your credit reports doesn’t become burdensome to the point you do it once, and never again.

SmartMoney published an article a little over a year ago identifying the significant growth of websites that sell credit-related products and services. At publication time, the number was “more than 20 websites,” which was up from five a decade prior.

Multiple destinations offering similar credit-related products and services can sometimes leave the consumer feeling confused as to which are the most appropriate and reputable.

So, in an effort to help out the Minter who asked the question, and anyone else who finds the online credit landscape a little confusing, I’ve come up with reputable outlets you can use to stay engaged with your credit and credit-related rights.

Getting Free Credit Reports

You have the right under Federal law to claim your free credit reports once every 12 months. In order to leverage these rights, you have to go to www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the only website where you can claim your legitimately free credit reports provided for under Federal law.

If you live in Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Puerto Rico or Vermont, you’re entitled to one additional free credit report per year (either calendar year or every 12 months, depending on the state). Georgia residents get two free reports per calendar year.

In order to claim your state law freebie, you have to go directly to the credit bureaus’ websites, which are www.Equifax.com, www.Experian.com and www.TransUnion.com. You cannot claim your free credit report per state law via the annualcreditreport.com website.

I’ve said this over and over, but it’s worth repeating: the credit reporting agencies are not going to sneak up behind you and stick a credit report in your pocket because they’re not obligated to do so. You have to ask for them.

Getting Free Credit Scores or Buying FICO Scores

You do NOT have the right under any law for free annual credit scores, although a provision in Dodd-Frank requires that if your credit score was used to make an adverse decision in response to a credit application, then the lender has to give you your score for free.

There are a variety of outlets that will give you a score if you sign up for a credit monitoring service trial subscription. Opinions vary on whether or not that’s “free” or “conditionally free.”

I’m not here to have that argument. I’m here to show you where you can get free credit scores without a chance of being charged anything.

www.CreditSesame.com will give you a free credit score from Experian called the “Experian National Risk Model.” It’s a legit credit score that’s available for sale to lenders.

It’s not a FICO score, but it will give you a very good idea of what kind of credit risk you pose to lenders. No credit card is required for claim your free score.

www.CreditKarma.com will give you a free TransRisk credit score from TransUnion, which is also commercially available to lenders. Again, it’s not a FICO score, but it will give you an idea of your credit risk.

You can also get your VantageScore credit score from the site. VantageScore is also a credit score available to lenders. No credit card is required to claim your free score.

www.myFICO.com will sell you your FICO scores based on Equifax and/or TransUnion data. myFICO is the consumer division of FICO (formerly known as Fair, Isaac) and these are the guys that invented the ubiquitous FICO credit score. The cost is $19.95 per credit report and score.

www.Equifax.com will sell you your FICO score based only on Equifax data. Be aware that they also sell a non-FICO score. Point being, if you want to get your FICO score, then be sure it says “FICO score” and not simply “credit score.” The cost is $19.95.

Freezing Your Credit Reports

In my mind, the credit freeze is infinitely more effective at protecting you from identity theft than simply monitoring your credit reports. Freezing your credit reports is proactive and locks out any lender trying to process new credit applications.

Monitoring your credit reports is reactive and tells you after something bad has already happened. The good news is that freezing your credit reports is much less expensive than paying monthly subscriptions to monitor your credit report.

To freeze your credit reports you can go to…

Stopping or Minimizing Credit Card Offers

Under Federal law, you have the right to prevent the credit reporting agencies from selling your name to creditors who want to offer you preapproved offers of credit. This is often called “Opting Out.”

If you’re not opted out, then your name can be sold, normally to credit card issuers, who will take a first pass at screening your credit reports and FICO score. If you meet or surpass their criteria you may get a firm offer of credit in the mail.

If you want to ensure that your name is never screened like this again, you can opt out for free here. This is 100% free and you can always opt back in if you want to start getting preapproved credit card offers in the mail again. After a few months you’ll be surprised just how empty your mailbox is.

Do you have a credit question for John Ulzheimer? Visit Mint’s Facebook page and ask away!

John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. The opinions expressed in his articles are his and not of Mint.com or Intuit. Follow John on Twitter.

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File this story under the “Why Can’t Credit Scoring Be Less Complicated.”

I received the following question from a Minter a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t wait to write an article answering his question.

“John, last week I went to a car dealership to buy a new truck. I went on the test drive, really liked the truck and asked the dealer if they could get me a better interest rate than by credit union, which was offering me a great rate for 48 months. When the manager showed me my credit report I noticed that the FICO score that was used was some sort of auto credit score. I asked the guy what that meant and he was clueless. What gives?”

The FICO Auto Industry Option

What gives is that most auto lenders that use FICO credit scores use a different variety of FICO score called the “FICO Auto Industry Option” score. Let’s call it the FICO Auto Score, for short.

FICO develops a variety of credit scores including these semi-customized scores referred to as Industry Option scores. These scores are used by lenders in the auto, credit card, and installment industries, which pretty much covers everyone.

Here’s How They Work

Stop thinking like a consumer and start thinking like a lender, just for a moment.

If you are an auto lender do you really care how an applicant is paying their mortgage loan or their credit card bills?

You probably do, but not nearly as much as you care about how they’re paying their auto loans.

Well, you’re not the only one who thinks that way. FICO has built an entire stable of these credit score variants specifically for different loan types.

There are auto specific scores, bankcard specific scores, mortgage specific scores, installment specific scores and personal finance specific scores…all on the market today.

The choice of which score to use is one made by the lender.

Because you’re asking about the FICO Auto score we’ll focus on that one. The FICO auto score calculates your base or generic FICO score, and then holds on to it in credit score limbo.

Then, using what’s technically referred to as a “scorecard overlay” the FICO auto score takes a second bite at the apple and re-evaluates the consumer’s credit report but this time focuses on attributes that are especially important for auto loan risk evaluations.

For example, do you have other auto loans on your credit report?

If so, are those loans paid on time or are you missing payments? These are specifics that tell an expanded story about how you’re likely to pay an auto loan rather than simply “any” loan.

How Different are the Two Scores?

Don’t get me wrong, your auto score isn’t going to be wildly different than your generic FICO score.

You’d be safe to assume that the two score varieties will be within plus or minus 15 to 20 points, but that can vary.  Of course this is all academic if you’ve got fantastic credit reports.

Those are going to yield a great credit score regardless of the score type.

This rule is going to hold true not only for FICO’s generic score, but also their industry specific scores.

And, it’s going to hold true for every other credit scoring system on the market, like the VantageScore credit score, which I wrote about for Mint here.

It’s also going to hold true for the free scores available from the variety of websites that give them away, like www.CreditSesame.com. The better your credit reports the better your scores, regardless.

Unlike sites that allow you to check your credit report for free, FICO’s industry specific scores are not available to consumers on any website for any price.

In order to get those you’ll just have to keep relying on the Finance and Insurance Manager at the local auto dealership.

John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. The opinions expressed in his articles are his and not of Mint.com or Intuit. Follow John on Twitter.

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I received the following question from a Minter via the Mint.com Facebook page:

Question: “John, I just got all of my credit reports for free and there are some items that are old, accurate, and just downright bad. I’d love to get rid of them. The materials that came with the credit reports make it pretty clear that I can dispute information that’s incorrect and get it corrected.

But I have a different dilemma: I have information that I know is correct that I’d like to get removed. Is there any downside to disputing information on a credit report that you know to be accurate? Can I get in trouble?”

Answer: First things first, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives each of us the right to challenge information on our credit reports with which we don’t agree. There’s nothing in that law that prohibits consumers from disputing information on their credit reports for any reason.

Further, “accurate or inaccurate” is not the only variable that can cause the credit reporting agencies to remove something from a credit report. Your credit report information must be able to be verified, right or wrong.

So, if you disputed something from your credit reports and the furnishing party failed to respond to the credit bureaus, the item would be deemed unverifiable and would be removed.

It may have been perfectly accurate, but because the lender couldn’t or wouldn’t confirm its accuracy –bye, bye negative information!

Is it wrong to dispute correct information?

I’m not the morality police, and you can do what you want to do, but you do have the right to challenge any information on your report — whether it’s correct or not.

It’s your right to have correct and verifiable information on your credit reports. I can’t speak for them, but I imagine they’d also want your credit report to be fully accurate and verifiable.

How to file disputes with the credit bureaus

1. Request credit report

In order to find any errors or unattractive figures to dispute, you’ll first need to obtain an updated copy of your credit report from each of the credit reporting bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

one free credit report each year which you can order from annualcreditreport.com or you can access your credit score right in the Mint app. Many banks and credit card companies will also allow you to pull your credit report on a monthly basis.

2. Identify errors

Once you’ve obtained a recent credit score, you should carefully review the information displayed. Is the credit history right? What about your credit balance? Are there any errors or items that may be inaccurate? If yes, print out the report and follow through with these next few steps to dispute all inaccurate or negative items on your credit report. 

3. Fill out a credit bureau dispute form

Each of the credit bureaus has an area of their website dedicated to credit report disputes. Here, you’ll find instructions and dispute forms for each. To make it easy on our Minters, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you and collected all of the resources you’ll need to dispute something on your credit report. 

Here’s where to find dispute forms for all three major credit bureaus:

Note: If the information you want to dispute appears on all three reports, you’ll need to file a separate dispute with each of the credit reporting bureaus.

4. Print out your credit report and notate the errors

In step two you printed out your original credit report. Now, you’ll want to notate the errors you noticed on your report by circling the items you wish to have changed. It’s important that the credit bureau knows exactly what your request is about, so be extra careful here and make sure the information you’re citing here matches the description on your credit report dispute form.

5. Send your dispute to the credit bureau(s)

In order to learn how to dispute a credit report and win, you’ll likely want to include as much information as possible to support your case. That said, you’ll need to include some items in addition to your dispute claim and your credit report. 

Depending on what type of things you want to dispute on your credit report, your case may require different documents. For example, if you are trying to remove a closed credit card account from your score, you might include a record of the closed account with your documents. If you want to dispute a collection amount, you should provide proof of the settled debt or a receipt that shows you made the required payments.

Once you have all of your documents put together, there are a few ways you can approach the dispute process:

  • Online: For many, the easiest way to go through the dispute process is by simply uploading your dispute and relative documents online (you can use the links referenced above to do so).
  • By phone: You can also file a dispute by phone with Equifax and TransUnion—Experian does not offer this option. 
    • Equifax: 1-866-349-5191
    • TransUnion: 1-800-916-8800
  • By mail: Lastly, you can send your dispute and documents by certified mail with a return receipt.

Experian

P.O. Box 9701 

Allen, TX 75013

Equifax

P.O. Box 740256

Atlanta, GA 30374-0256

TransUnion

P.O. Box 2000

Chester, PA 19016

Some words of advice: how to dispute credit report and win

Wondering “does disputing credit work?” Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple…but there are certainly some things you can do to increase your odds. If you do file disputes with the credit bureaus, you should think about how to word your letter. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to tell them you want accurate information removed. I’d simply ask that they verify what’s already being reported.

After you file your dispute, the credit bureaus will contact the furnishing party, normally a lender or a collection agency. These parties are formally referred to as “data furnishers” or “furnishers” for short.

It’s their responsibility to investigate your claim and get back to the credit bureaus, normally within 30 days, but there are some scenarios when it can take 45 days.

If they confirm the accuracy of the credit reporting, then you’ll likely have to live with it until the credit bureaus have to remove the item, which normally takes 7 years for the bad stuff.

How to re-dispute an item

Sometimes deleted credit report items disappear only to come back to haunt you some weeks, months, or years later. You can certainly choose to re-dispute the item with the credit bureaus. They’ll likely send another dispute form (called an “ACDV”) to the furnisher asking them to investigate the item again.

However, unless you’ve contacted the furnisher and convinced them that it’s wrong, they’ll likely send the same response to the credit bureaus.

If you choose to dispute the item again, you should be aware that the credit bureaus do not have to honor your request unless you provide some new information.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows the bureaus to consider repetitive disputes to be frivolous and ignore them.

Takeaways: How to dispute credit reports and win

  • You’re entitled to accurate and verifiable information on your credit report
  • You can file a dispute with the credit bureaus by phone, mail, or online
  • When filing a credit dispute, include as much information as possible to support your claim 
  • If your dispute is rejected, you can choose to re-dispute the claim with the credit reporting bureaus

Do you have a credit questions for John Ulzheimer? Head over to the Mint.com Facebook page and ask away!

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©
2023 MintLife Blog.

All rights reserved. Intuit and QuickBooks are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. Terms and conditions, features, support, pricing, and service options subject to change without notice.

Source: mint.intuit.com

Apache is functioning normally


©
2023 MintLife Blog.

All rights reserved. Intuit and QuickBooks are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. Terms and conditions, features, support, pricing, and service options subject to change without notice.

Source: mint.intuit.com

What to Do If You Have Duplicate Credit Reports

“John, I was at a car dealership last weekend looking for a new car.  The dealer said he might be able to get me a zero percent financing deal if I had high enough credit scores.  I gave him permission to pull my credit report and check my score. When he did he came back

The post What to Do If You Have Duplicate Credit Reports appeared first on MintLife Blog.

Can Disputing Information On My Credit Report Backfire?

I received the following question from a Minter regarding disputing information on his credit report. “John, I have a negative item on two of my credit reports that is scheduled to come off in just under 2 years, December 2015. I would like it to be off by June 2014 because I’d like to open

The post Can Disputing Information On My Credit Report Backfire? appeared first on MintLife Blog.

Which Credit Bureau Will Give Me the Best Report?

I received the following question last week from one of my Twitter followers and I think the answer will benefit the Minter community. “John, I was trying to get a copy of my credit report and wanted to ask your opinion as to which credit bureau is the best of the three? And, if there

The post Which Credit Bureau Will Give Me the Best Report? appeared first on MintLife Blog.