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Already had my question answered upon joining myFico. Was wondering if I should close an account if I don't use it anymore. Guess I'll keep it open. Thanks for the help.
-RD
@creditimproved40points wrote:Greetings, and though I am quite new to the whole credit thing, I would like to add some things. I am restoring my credit. I first started by getting a free copy of my credit reports from all three bureaus through 1-877-FAC-TACT. This is a federally mandated program for those worried about their scores. They are free for the first time, and once per year thereafter. Any more throughout the year must be paid for. Afterwards, I poured through my reports and disputed everything down to even disputing misspelled names from my credit report (this could be considered identity theft if you yourself did not initiate the account). I then started to pay down all my past charged off accounts that have been reporting every month. The old accounts that have not been reporting...just leave them alone. Then I got one loan for 440. and one secured card for 200. Now I just have to wait for those to start affecting my credit score. I went from a fico score in Mar 01 of 541 to a score today of 589.
I think it's worth cautioning that people should NOT obtain their free annual credit reports through the above number, it may be an "imposter site." DO NOT USE 800-FAC-TACT!
According to the FTC, ONLY ONE website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law — annualcreditreport.com. Their phone number is 1-877-322-8228.
@OptimalFICO wrote:
@creditimproved40points wrote:Greetings, and though I am quite new to the whole credit thing, I would like to add some things. I am restoring my credit. I first started by getting a free copy of my credit reports from all three bureaus through 1-877-FAC-TACT. This is a federally mandated program for those worried about their scores. They are free for the first time, and once per year thereafter. Any more throughout the year must be paid for. Afterwards, I poured through my reports and disputed everything down to even disputing misspelled names from my credit report (this could be considered identity theft if you yourself did not initiate the account). I then started to pay down all my past charged off accounts that have been reporting every month. The old accounts that have not been reporting...just leave them alone. Then I got one loan for 440. and one secured card for 200. Now I just have to wait for those to start affecting my credit score. I went from a fico score in Mar 01 of 541 to a score today of 589.
I think it's worth cautioning that people should NOT obtain their free annual credit reports through the above number, it may be an "imposter site." DO NOT USE 800-FAC-TACT!
According to the FTC, ONLY ONE website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law — annualcreditreport.com. Their phone number is 1-877-322-8228.
Not certain on that; it's all over Google even from various reputable places and the only difference is 800 vs. 877 as the rest of the number is the same.
Appears to either be legit or an incredibly common mistake between two of the free toll NPA's.
Actually on calling it, it's decommissioned. Will edit the post.
The 800 version of that number apparently was (is?) owned by a coffee shop in Iowa.
http://www.whitepages.com/phone/1-800-322-8228
I can't imagine that it was healthy for business!
@Revelate wrote:
@OptimalFICO wrote:
@creditimproved40points wrote:Greetings, and though I am quite new to the whole credit thing, I would like to add some things. I am restoring my credit. I first started by getting a free copy of my credit reports from all three bureaus through 1-877-FAC-TACT. This is a federally mandated program for those worried about their scores. They are free for the first time, and once per year thereafter. Any more throughout the year must be paid for. Afterwards, I poured through my reports and disputed everything down to even disputing misspelled names from my credit report (this could be considered identity theft if you yourself did not initiate the account). I then started to pay down all my past charged off accounts that have been reporting every month. The old accounts that have not been reporting...just leave them alone. Then I got one loan for 440. and one secured card for 200. Now I just have to wait for those to start affecting my credit score. I went from a fico score in Mar 01 of 541 to a score today of 589.
I think it's worth cautioning that people should NOT obtain their free annual credit reports through the above number, it may be an "imposter site." DO NOT USE 800-FAC-TACT!
According to the FTC, ONLY ONE website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law — annualcreditreport.com. Their phone number is 1-877-322-8228.
Not certain on that; it's all over Google even from various reputable places and the only difference is 800 vs. 877 as the rest of the number is the same.
Appears to either be legit or an incredibly common mistake between two of the free toll NPA's.
Actually on calling it, it's decommissioned. Will edit the post.
Not surprised, as mentioned and worth repeating -- according to the FTC, ONLY ONE website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law — annualcreditreport.com. Their phone number is 1-877-322-8228.
Thank you everyone for all the advice and pointers you post! I've been working on improving my credit. My score has increased rapidly (over 100 points in 4 months) thanks to some of the information I've received here.
Great info in here.
So the reason I am here (like many of you), is that I am trying to repair my credit! A few years back I acquired some baddies. They are still on my credit reports, but shuld fall off in about 2 years.
My question is regarding accessing my credit scores. I just went thru www.annualcreditreport.com and got my TU & EX reports (have to mail in for my EQ). I also followed the page to get my Credit Score from TU & EX for $1 each (trial period). I want to ensure that these are actually my real credit scores?!?!
My TU is showing as 788, while my EX is showing 682. EQ (from myFico) is 694.
Finally, I know I can only access my credit reports from there once a year, what does everyone use to keep tabs throughout the year. I think I would like to check them all quarterly. I also would like to know my score. I don't really want to pay $60/quarter to access this info, but if it's what needs to be done, I suppose I must.
Thanks and can't wait to officially start cleaning up my credit!
UPDATE: After reading a ton, it seems it's best to get all 3 reports from myFICO. I got those as well, and now know my true FICO scores for all 3! (698 696 694)
@dabearsv2 wrote:Great info in here.
So the reason I am here (like many of you), is that I am trying to repair my credit! A few years back I acquired some baddies. They are still on my credit reports, but shuld fall off in about 2 years.
My question is regarding accessing my credit scores. I just went thru www.annualcreditreport.com and got my TU & EX reports (have to mail in for my EQ). I also followed the page to get my Credit Score from TU & EX for $1 each (trial period). I want to ensure that these are actually my real credit scores?!?!
My TU is showing as 788, while my EX is showing 682. Seems like a huge difference!
Finally, I know I can only access my credit reports from there once a year, what does everyone use to keep tabs throughout the year. I think I would like to check them all quarterly. I also would like to know my score. I don't really want to pay $60/quarter to access this info, but if it's what needs to be done, I suppose I must.
Thanks and can't wait to officially start cleaning up my credit!
Congrats on making that first step and welcome to the forums!
To your question, they're not "real" in that no lender uses them: educational scores have limited value frankly. You'll find lots of opinions regarding the validity of even tracking a FICO score, but my personal opinion is if one is going to keep score, it should be at least with a score that there's a chance someone will use. Would suggest looking in the credit monitoring post as there's a number of options with varying different cost structures and features.
Figured it out (I think). I just got all 3 scores from myFICO after realizing they were the only way to trust I was not getting the consumer scores. I am pleasantly surprised with the results
Great...!!