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gmakerley · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:25 pm Post subject: Checking your own credit

This is just a reminder. There are three new credit websites that are absolutely free. They will not give you a credit score, but will provide you with a very good handle on what your credit looks like and how you can improve. I've reviewed each of them in the Credit Problems and Repair forum about a month ago.

They are:
Quizzle.com
Creditkarma.com
Credit.com

Please recognize I'm not touting these for any personal gain. They are absolutely free - no money is exchanged at all - and as an advocate for things that are free, I find it necessary to endorse these. Each of these sites has its merits, and I found that each is pretty simple to navigate around as well. Take advantage of this opportunity to check your own credit for free and not have to get roped into making a purchase of some "plan" to help you preserve that credit.

riseabove · Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 277 11.01 Dollars($)

I've heard that too many queries can affect your credit score - do these sites have that effect?

raymond · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:51 pm Post subject:

I've found the free credit score places provide "consumer" credit scores, not "FICO' scores. When I've compared the two in the past, the consumer credit scores are always higher then FICO scores.

jimgilly · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:57 am Post subject:

Borrowers seeking a home loan don't need a "good handle" on what their credit looks like. They need to know what their actual FICO scores are otherwise they are susceptible to a number of bait and switch games that lenders/mortgage brokers play.

Sending someone to a website to get a FAKO credit score will typically end up doing more harm than good. Anyone in the business should know this.

raymond · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:04 am Post subject:

>>Sending someone to a website to get a FAKO credit score will typically end up doing more harm than good

George wasn't doing that. As he said, you can't get credit scores at those websites, but consumers can get a general feel for where their credit is and learn how to make it better.

I was referencing websites that go a step beyond that and also provide consumer credit scores.

If a consumer is seriously shopping for a mortgage, and wants to see their real FICO scores, the same ones I'd see if I pulled their credit, they should go to myfico.com.

gmakerley · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:37 am Post subject:

thank you raymond.

obviously i never suggested to anyone that those sites would lead them to an approval of a loan or anything like that. man oh man, if i didn't have thick skin, i'd be gone so fast...jim, nobody is giving anyone any "fako" scores either - i couldn't have been more specific about these sites not issuing scores. your insulting post doesn't speak well of you, i'm afraid.

and for those who have no clue about what to do about credit...having a "good handle" on where they stand is a pretty decent start. i never said it's the be-all and end-all of it. nor will i ever say that.

Guest

Why even mention sites that cannot provide actual scores used by mortgage lenders and justify i by saying it's a pretty decent start?

Anyone in the business should know "close doesn't count". All this does is confuse the already much confused consumer even more.

Also, myfico.com no longer provides the FICO score from Experian so the best you can do is get scores from Equifax and TransUnion. This would work if you got both scores but at a cost of $31.90 when there are ways to get all 3 actual FICO scores for less.

gmakerley · Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:44 am Post subject:

jim why did you bother reading this if it's so worthless? as for confusion, you're confusing misinformation with information, and you're confusing wasted money with saved money.

and if you purchase your own scores, by the way, you'll get scores that are vastly different, in many cases, from what lenders see.

"anyone in the business" is aware of that, also. thanks for playing.

Guest

George

are you saying that when I pull my scores from myfico.com that they will not be the same as what the lender will see , or are you talking about the other sites
thanks
clay

gmakerley · Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:19 pm Post subject:

that is correct, clay. i cannot explain what it is that the credit reporting agencies do that causes this, but since the purpose of a mortgage credit report differs from one retrieved by a consumer, that's recognized by the scoring model and the reports deliver different scores.

this is my assumption, at least in part: what you are seeking is to know how your credit looks and in what category you fall, as far as low risk, medium risk, high risk, etc. what mortgage lenders are seeking is an idea of how someone can be viewed as a risk when the origination of a mortgage loan is considered. in other words, in my capacity as a lender, i want to know how much risk i'm taking on in granting you a loan. you, the borrower, aren't concerned with risk but wish to know how you fall on the overall rating scale.

again...that's just my take on it. the model that's used for scoring credit is heavily guarded.

clayedwards · Joined: 07 Feb 2010 Posts: 17 5.66 Dollars($)

Thanks George

by the way I checked Creditkarma.com out and it did not give me a report but a score for transunion , just thought Id let you know.

Clay

Guest

Simple answer is find a lender who agrees to provide you with your credit scores if you do a preapproval with them by supplying your SS # (not a formal 1003 loan application).

Get the actual scores and you can now more accurately shop for the best loan you qualify for. Forget the nonsense of knowing what "category" you fall into since in this business "close" does not count when it is your money on the line and a few points in your credit scores one way or another can mean thousands of dollars either in or out of your pocket.

gmakerley · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:27 am Post subject:

i agree with you jim that a lender can provide a consumer with a copy of a credit report that actually shows what that lender will consider in the process of a loan application.

however, for someone who is merely curious to know where he or she stands, that's a waste of time for a lender to be running credit and providing free copies of the reports. the sites herein mentioned are not intended to provide everything that a person needs - nevertheless, for some who need a little education they serve a useful purpose.

rather than go to the not-at-all-free freecreditreport(dot)com site and waste money, these will allow folk to review what's in their files and move forward. inasmuch as they're free, it might be worthwhile for lots of those who are in the under-600 score range to get these freebies and take them to someone who can assist them in navigating around the credit abyss.

i don't find them wasteful. would i use them for myself in order to prepare to qualify? no i wouldn't, but they are alternatives.

it's nice to have alternatives sometimes. and i promise you i'm not trying to sell people on anything. i reviewed these sites strictly because i recognized that a portion of the public was likely to use them, and i wanted to do a service by alerting them to the good and the bad of these sites. i guess, for some, i wasted my time; hopefully, not for all.

Guest

Iv played around with them, so at least you helped one person out, lol

thanks
clay

jveenstra · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:19 am Post subject: Credit Scores

All the information above is valid and good.

If one is going to maybe buy a property and get a mortgage, have a mortgage consultant/loan officer get the credit report for you. You kill several birds with one stone. You get a mortgage credit report and credit scores for free and you can only get mortgage credit scores from a mortgage company. You can also be prequalified at the same time. You can also get advice as to what you may do to improve credit scores either immediately or over a longer game plan.

The "consumer" credit report with credit scores that you may pay for an get will not have the same credit scores as would a "mortgage" credit report. There are several industries that have their own credit scoring credit reports. The auto industry may be one and the mortgage industry is certainly another.

Many mortgages are sold in the secondary market. The secondary market buys pools of mortgages based in similar characteristics. One of the "similar" characteristics is mortgage credit scores based on the same model/version. When mortgages started using credit scores for mortgage qualification and for sale of those mortgages in the secondary market, they used Version 3 of the credit scoring model and they have kept version 3.
In the meantime, many years have passed and the "consumer" model/version has been updated/changed many times based on new data.

So, when you get a "consumer" report the scores are based on Version 15 or more and those scores are different from the "mortgage" scores from model/version 3.

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