Your Credit Report

[esmith]

I was watching Fox News this AM (2/17/2013) and they had a segment on personal credit history. The guest said that, by law, everyone was entitled to a free copy of their credit report every year. The site that the guest said to use was:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index

I decided to investigate our credit report and went to the site. It was as the report stated and I received a full credit history. This included your status on credit cards, car loans, mortgages, names of companies requesting a credit report. I received the report from the following credit reporting companies.
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Very detailed report (18 pages from TransUnion alone).

 

[Revoltingest]

I wonder running your own credit report hurts your credit? Be careful.
I've been recently shopping for loans, & after having my report run several
times, this caused it to drop about 30 points. Great...now we're below 800.

 

[esmith]

I wonder running your own credit report hurts your credit? Be careful.
I've been recently shopping for loans, & after having my report run several
times, this caused it to drop about 30 points. Great...now we're below 800.

From what I understand this action should have no affect on your credit standing. They do not give you a "score", just a detailed description of your credit transactions. For instance on a credit card they list outstanding balance and the monthly payments. They also list the accounts that are closed. We had a loan on a previous car and paid it off, it showed up in the report.
The guest on the show said that you have to go through the report line by line (from each company) and make sure that the information is correct. One important fact is if you do find an error and have one of the credit reporting companies investigate and fix the problem it Is not corrected at the other companies if that error is also in that report. That is "your" responsibility; it appears that they don't talk to each other.

 

[tumbleweed41]

The once a year inquiry does not affect your score, but as Revolt said, every inquiry by creditors authorized by you does affect the score negatively.

 

[Reverend Rick]

This is a trick car dealers do. They run you with 30 different folks so when you go down the street to the next dealer, your number is not as good and you can't get as good a deal with financing at the next place.

I never give them my numbers, I pay cash or obtain my own loan or line of credit before I go shopping.

I went to the boat show a while back......... now I want another boat.

 

[esmith]

I went to the boat show a while back......... now I want another boat.

Why not, gotta have our toys

 

[Reverend Rick]

Why not, gotta have our toys

Yes we do and now that I am retired, I would have plenty of time to enjoy a new toy.

 

[Penumbra]

Annual credit report allows you to get 1 free credit report from each of the three major credit agencies per year. So I check one of them every 4 months in order to have the optimal (shortest) time between checking.

I wonder running your own credit report hurts your credit? Be careful.

I've been recently shopping for loans, & after having my report run several
times, this caused it to drop about 30 points. Great...now we're below 800.

According to many sources that I've read, checking your own credit score is a "soft inquiry" and does not affect the score.

Sources:
HowStuffWorks "Does it hurt my credit score when I pull my credit report?"
7 nasty credit myths that won't die - 1 - credit score - MSN Money
Checking your own report will not hurt your credit scores
Does Checking Your Credit Hurt Your Credit Score? | Credit Sesame

This is a trick car dealers do. They run you with 30 different folks so when you go down the street to the next dealer, your number is not as good and you can't get as good a deal with financing at the next place.

I never give them my numbers, I pay cash or obtain my own loan or line of credit before I go shopping.

I went to the boat show a while back......... now I want another boat.

According to many sources that I've read, there is a 30 day window for mortgage, auto, and student loans that allows consumers to have many checks within that time period without counting the inquiry more than once for hurting the score. The idea is, they realize that the consumer is rate shopping and therefore they do not penalize.

Sources:
Credit Report Inquiries: How Credit Checks Affect Your Credit Score
How credit inquiries affect credit score
How Mortgage Inquiries Affect FICO Scores | Credit Sesame