| Due to the recent credit crisis and housing collapse | | | | They are only required to provide your free credit |
| leading rules have changed dramatically. Despite | | | | reports and that's just what they do. They can still |
| historically low mortgage rates, most people cannot | | | | make money selling you the credit scores and that's |
| qualify for them without a really good credit score. This | | | | just what they do. |
| is why it is very important to get your free credit | | | | You can expect to pay around $8-$10 for each credit |
| scores and know where you stand and know where | | | | score so that's around $24-$30 each time you want |
| you have to improve to get the lowest mortgage rate. | | | | to check your scores. And then the experts tell you to |
| So where can you get free credit scores? | | | | check them every few months so you can easily |
| Several sites now offer free "credit scores" which are | | | | spend over hundred dollars over the course of a year. |
| based off of scoring formulas similar to the national | | | | So where does that leave you? |
| credit bureau formulas at TransUnion, Equifax, and | | | | You can go to sites that you see advertised on TV |
| Experian. The accuracy of these scores is debatable. | | | | and sign up to get your free credit reports and scores |
| Comments on a recent Wall Street Journal article | | | | from all three credit reporting agencies. |
| stated these scores are not reliable when it comes to | | | | Doing this will allow you to monitor your credit score on |
| mortgages and refinancing. | | | | an ongoing basis so you can check your credit |
| These sites are credit.com, and They can provide you | | | | worthiness in less than a minute instead of having to |
| with an estimated score range instead of an exact | | | | sift through 20 to 30 pages of your credit reports |
| score and you can expect loads of advertisements all | | | | trying to decode all the abbreviations. |
| over the site with many offers you are encouraged to | | | | Getting your free credit scores this way does not |
| sign up for. | | | | lower your score because it is a soft inquiry instead of |
| Why doesn't the government provide free credit | | | | a hard inquiry which can lower your score. And you will |
| scores in addition to free credit reports? | | | | be able to keep track of any suspicious activity in your |
| The easy answer is they were not part of the | | | | credit report that could affect your score or result in |
| arrangements with the credit reporting agencies who | | | | identity theft. |
| are now required by law to provide them for free. | | | | |