Your Right To A Free Credit Score

Do you have the right to get a free credit score?  The answer is no.  You are given the right to get a free credit report but not a credit score. So how do you go about getting a free credit score online?  This is going to take some work and you knowing what you are getting into. 

First, you must realize that anytime you see an offer for a free credit score, it comes with some strings.  You will have to sign up for something.  Usually this something is a credit monitoring program.  These are bad, but they are definitely not free.  Why then does it say free?  Because this credit monitoring service usually has a free trail offer.  You get to join free for a month or whatever. 

So the way to get a free credit score online is to sign up for one of there credit monitoring services.  You will get your credit score and credit report by signing up and then you must make the choice to cancel if you don't want it anymore. 

To cancel, you must do it in the time they allow.  This is sometimes a shorter period than the free trial.  That makes it a bit tricky.  So will need to read the fine print and locate the actual agreement. 

Credit monitoring is a good product.  It does things like protect you against identity theft and keeps tabs on your credit reports.  The fact is most people aren't interest in it when they are looking to get a free credit score.  It is a bi-product of the effort.  But if you are trying to be worth anything or protect your credit score or look at your credit report more than once per year, they are worth a better look.

Your Credit Mix and Installment Loans

If you were unaware your credit mix makes up 10% of your credit score.  This part of your credit score looks at what types of credit you are using.  So are you using credit cards?  Do you have a mortgage?  Do you have an auto loan?

There are no stated rules of what a healthy mix of credit is.  But it is often put that you should just have credit cards.  So having 12 different credit cards is not recommended.  It is much better to use many different types of credit.  It shows you have the ability to manage different types of credit. 

So why do you turn to diversify your credit.  One new and unknown way is to get a peer to peer loan.  This is same as person to person lending.  There is less bank involvement and usually has the job of connecting investors with lenders. 

Why get one?  Well one of the most popular uses is to consolidate debt.  You can get a peer to peer loan that ranges from $1000 to $25000.  This makes ideal to pay off those credit cards.  Also, you get a loan that is usually at a much better interest rate.  It is a three year loan and by the time you pay it off you could be potentially be out from under that credit card debt.  

But if you don't think that is for you, peer to peer lending can be an alternative to a traditional auto loan.  Who likes dealing with a car finance department.  This way you can have the money you want to spend up from and try to negotiate a better deal.  

Well, this is one way to work on your credit mix, but you should also not apply for credit if you don't need it.  You need to see if peer to peer lending will work for you.

Why You Want A Good Credit Score More Than Ever

The fact is a good credit score is something that is defined by the person looking at your score.  Meaning it is the lender who decides if your credit score is considered good.  Though most would agree 700 plus is usually considered a good credit score.  

But what has this new credit crisis done to the lending process and your credit score?  It really has started to change the playing field of lending.  The creditors in this country are tighting down their lending restrictions.  Where it seemed like the majority of people qualified for mortgages now it is going to be tougher.  This is with good reason.  Most of foreclosures out there are becuase people really weren't credit worthy enough to qualify for a mortgage.  Or a mortgage as large as they got. 

So that is leaving you wondering what is a good credit scoreIs 700 a good credit score?  Well, you should be fine around this level.  The average American is somewhere around the 680 mark.  This makes you better than average. This will always help your chances of getting approved to get a loan.

Being at this level tough doesn't gaurantee that you will get the best interest rates.  For that you will need to have an excellent credit score which is going to take some time.  There are many credit tips you should try to utilitlize to get there and be thinking of your credit standing frequently. 

Errors on Your Credit Report

How many of us have errors on our credit reports?  The answer is 70%.  Suprised?  I was when I read this on Bankrate.com.  The scary thing is most of these don't get removed.  To be honest how often do you check your credit report.  Most sites say you should check your credit report at least once per year.  But how often does this really happen? 

Even though you are entitled to one free credit report per year, I am pretty sure this privelage goes unused.  Why?  People really don't think or sometimes even care about thier credit report.  It is that kind of hear no evil see no evil.  Or maybe if you know you are not so hot in the credit sector, you don't want to see the shame.  You avoid your credit report like you avoid your dentist.  But if you do that your credit report is going to be filled with cavities. 

When do consumers check thier credit report?  The answer is usually when they need something.  Things like buying a house comes to mind.  Without a doubt a lender is going to fully review your credit report and score when you are buying a house.  So what happens when you check your credit report right before you need it?  You might find that it is full of errors.  Now what will you do?

Your credit rights allow you to dispute errors, but they are not going to disappear in a day or two.  This can take some time.  Disputing credit report errors you need to contact the three major credit bureaus.  After the dispute is filled they have to get back with you with in 30 days.  A whole month.  Is that time going to slow you down when trying to buy a home?  Hell ya.  Even longer would be if the dispute comes back with your account saying it needs to stay on your credit report.  Then you are going to have to contact your account and see if you can prove you side and have it removed.  This is going to take even more time. 

Hell, you even got three credit reports to do this with.  It would of been nice to get your 3 in 1 credit report on a regular basis and not have to deal with this last minute.

So the moral is check your credit report at least one time a year.  Hell, it is free so why not.  The idea above is only one potential outcome of not haveing errors removed.  It also can cause your interest rates to rise costing you more money.  So get on it. OK