Why Aren’t Credit Scores Free?
It’s fairly common knowledge that everyone in the United States is entitled to one free copy of their credit reports every twelve months from each of the credit reporting agencies. And, depending on where you live, state law might entitle you to additional free credit reports. While it’s not hard to get a copy of your free credit report, it isn’t as simple getting your credit scores for free.
Consumers often mistakenly assume that credit reports and credit scores are the same things. They further assume that all credit reports contain credit scores as a permanent component. Credit scores are actually not a part of your credit reports. They are, instead, an ancillary product sold as an option to your credit reports.
Think of it this way…credit scores are to your credit reports as leather seats are to your car. They’re an optional purchase where you’d be required to pay an additional fee and don’t come standard. In fact, if you were to look up the definition of a “credit report” in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you wouldn’t find one. You’d instead find a definition for a “consumer report” and the credit score is not part of the definition.
There are, however, a few places where you can get free credit scores online, although none of them are FICO credit scores. The downside is that none of these are FICO scores. The upside is that they’re free and they are directionally accurate. This means if you’ve got good credit you’ll have good scores regardless of the score type. And, if you’re in the “improvement” mode then you’ll be able to track your progress using these scores as you would if you had free access to your FICO scores.
If you have a credit score and want to know what makes it that way, then call or write for a Free Credit Analysis that will help you understand what does and does not help your credit scores. We also offer a free Top 10 Credit Secrets. Email me at Lawrence@VantageCreditAlliance.com or call 801-769-9443
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