Are all the free credit report offers we always hear about on television and radio really free and if so what’s the catch?
The only real way I know of to get a copy of your credit report Free No Strings Attached from all three of the major credit reporting agencies FREE is by contacting them for a copy when and if you are ever turned down for credit. That is a requirement by law!
The other and most pro-active way of staying on top of your credit is by requesting a free copy of your report from all three credit reporting agencies every year. Federal Law requires credit reporting agencies to supply you with a free annual report if requested by the consumers themselves, so the question is why would you ever buy one or use one of the so called Free credit report agencies getting in your face via every form of multi-media out there?
DON’T!!! The bottom line is, unless you want to subscribe to their monthly credit monitoring services or other collateral services they’re pushing, there is no need.
I’m writing this article because it seems to be a topic that must be repeated and a constant reminder.
No matter if your going to rent a house or purchase one, your credit report will be needed, no if’s and’s or buts about it. The question is how and where do you get it, how much does it cost, are the free offers really free?
A simple internet search for the term “free credit report” will return 108,000,000 pages on google, WOW! Somebody is makin’ money on all those sites, many are scams, many legitimate but locking you into a monthly service charge that you cannot cancel if you order the “Free” credit report and many others talking about or reselling the services.
The ONLY place I would recommend you go to get your truly FREE no strings attached credit report from all 3 agencies once a year is from https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ or by calling
You can also opt to contact each of the credit reporting agencies directly via their websites or calling them for a copy of your report from each of them. It is important to check all three reporting agencies reports to get a truer picture of your credit score and any reports sent to one agency and not the other which will be reflected on your report.
The FTC created a site to better educate consumers about all the credit report hoopla and even made a few commercials spoofing some of the services are using to bait and switch to get your free reports. Check out the government site for all the PSA’s and additional info http://www.ftc.gov/freereports .
Okay, I Got my 3 Free Credit Reports Now What?
Once you get a copy of all three of your credit reports, a quick way to 
get a quick overview of your credit is to look at the score from all three reports and pick the number in the middle, not the highest or lowest. This is how mortgage companies determine your score. The big misconception is that you score is figured out by average the three scores, lenders don’t do that, they also don’t just pick the highest number of the three, sorry if I just burst your bubble.
Okay so you now know your number, what’s a good score?
This chart can help you determine how good your score is, please note only the very best scores get the very best rates usually quoted on the commercials or in ads. The lower your score, the higher the risk a lender takes letting you borrow money. In exchange for taking that higher risk, banks expect some sort of compensation, they get that by charging you a higher rate.
So how can I fix my credit score if it’s crap or less than perfect?
Well it all depends how your credit got that way?
Late payments - How long ago was the late payment(s) and how late were they?
Judgments, Foreclosure, Short Sales, Settlements, Charge-offs, etc. these are all items that can have a negative effect on your credit but the question is to what degree?
For example a selling a house via a short sale is MUCH better than letting the bank foreclose on the home, it will also affect your score a lot less similar to a credit card settlement for less than what is owed vs. a charge-off where a creditor gives up on you, writes off the money you owe as a loss and then run the collection agencies after you.
If you just screwed up, make late payments, have collection agencies calling you for unpaid debt, had a court judgment for collection, etc. and don’t know what to do yourself, there is help to be had by working with credit repair agencies.
BE CAREFUL… Do a search on google and I’m sure you’ll find 10 times as many companies claiming to help here, most are scam artists. Credit counseling is a rip off, basically you’ll pay someone to nag you that it’s time to make a payment, if you lack that kind of discipline your hopeless.
There is a difference between credit repair and counseling and many more names they have out there with deceptive or misleading names.
I personally am seeing more and more mortgage companies retaining on contract credit repair agencies to help their would be clients for free or at low cost in hopes of future business from that person.
I have referred a few clients over to this agency, I’m not endorsing them over any others out there but they’ve helped several clients I was working with that had imperfections in their credit that needed help to clear up off their reports with pretty good success.
There is a cost and this particular service will work for a full year to continue monitoring and restoring your credit to the best of their ability. Expect to pay around $1,000 for this level of credit repair assistance. I liked their service because they will give both the client and mortgage rep or real estate agent a login with the persons permission to see the progress and updates to each clients account to see exactly what is being done to repair the credit.
Once again, I’m posting their info but don’t endorse or recommend any credit service.
Better Qualified
119 e River Rd.
Rumson, NJ 07760
1-888-533-8138
http://www.betterqualified.com/
Paul Oster
732-203-7377
credit@betterqualified.com
Shannon Macaluso
Cell: 732-768-0518
shannon@betterqualified.com
If you’re looking to repair your credit to purchase a home feel free to call me and I’ll give you a mortgage company’s contact info that helps their clients repair their credit when a little repair is needed before you can qualify for a mortgage.
Out office is located at:
www.MarivicRealty.com
2056A Lincoln Highway
Edison, NJ 08817-3330
Office: 732-650-9911 Ext.302
Contact: Victor Kaminski
Located Across from The Pines Manor & Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Nixon Plaza Shopping Center where the Labonbonniere Bake Shoppe
Click here for Door to Door Directions
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