Montor Your Credit!
Deborah Laemmerhirt, Broker 203-994-4297
Consumer Groups and Congress are advocating for consumers to receive a free credit score once per year. Also we review a popular credit checking site that we feel is worthy and gets "two thumbs up".
On March 6, Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont and Representative Steve Cohen (TN) introduced legislation in the House and Senate, called the Fair Access to Credit Scores Act. If passed the Act would that require credit reporting bureaus provide consumers with a free credit score. There are several companies out there that will provide you a credit score for a fee or with some sort of annual membership. There is much confusion in the credit reporting industry due to the different types of credit scores that are available for credit grantors to use. So if given a credit score, a consumer could not be 100% assured that it is the same one that a credit card company would have or a mortgage company would use.
Recently, the Consumer Finance Protection Board released a study HERE that indicated major discrepancies are possible when consumers are given one score and a credit grantor has another they use to determine credit worthiness. In up to 24% of the cases, the agency found, a consumer might see a score that was one tier off from what a lender would see. That means a consumer could see a score in the "excellent" range of 740-plus, while a lender saw only a "good" score in the 680-740 range, or vice versa. In as many as 3% of cases, the scores varied wildly. Be aware of this confusion when seeking credit.
Let's hope Congress clears up this mess.
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How to keep an eye on your credit:
www.creditkarma.com.
This site is getting rave reviews for being easy to use and free. There are some ads that come with the service but generally they are not intrusive. Once you register, Credit Karma goes to work monitoring your balances, payments and any warnings are given to you by email.
Credit Karma believes that every consumer has a right to access their scores. You'll get four credit scores along with free credit tools to help you better understand what a good credit score is. Even better, you'll receive your free credit score without a credit card.
The totally free Credit Report Card is an easy-to-understand summary of your credit report details. Use the Credit Report Card to gain a better understanding of your credit history and how it impacts your credit health.
Credit monitoring can help prevent identity theft and inaccurate information from appearing on your credit report. You'll receive an email when something important changes in your credit report.
Along with your free score, you'll see important details of your credit report for free. In addition to your free Credit Report Card, you can view the details on your individual credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and personal loans. You can use this section to spot any fraudulent or mistaken accounts on your credit report, maintain a record of your reported balance history, keep tabs on your credit card utilization rate, and receive recommendations for new loans and credit cards.
