Credit Card Addict » Credit Reports http://www.creditaddict.com feeding your credit card addiction... Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:03:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 Will the Free Credit Report Pirates Have to Walk the Plank? http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/free-credit-report-regulations/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/free-credit-report-regulations/#comments Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:27:53 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=707 Catchy commercials, featuring a band of indie rockers forced to dress like pirates for their shifts in a seafood restaurant, remind Americans to request free credit reports every year. Except, as consumer watchdogs point out, the site they advertise actually requires visitors to subscribe to paid credit monitoring services. Those pirates could soon be headed for Davy Jones’ Locker, with new federal regulations requiring marketers to make the distinction between truly free credit reports and other services that require subscription fees.

Confusing Domain Names Hide Free Credit Reports Behind Marketing Offers

By the time a 2003 law required the major credit bureaus to provide free credit reports, all available “Free Credit Report” domain names had already been snatched up by marketers and advertisers. The joint venture company tasked with overseeing distribution of free consumer credit checks settled for AnnualCreditReport.com instead. Therefore, starting April 1, new rules require any Web site advertising “free credit reports” to prominently display this text notice:

THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV.
You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com 
or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.

In addition, FTC rules also prohibit credit bureaus from upselling or advertising to consumers reaching their websites from the AnnualCreditReport.com link until after a mandated free report has been issued.

Free Credit Reports Still Viable Sources for Marketing Leads

Keep in mind, however, that a free credit report isn’t the same as a free credit score. Under the new FTC guidelines, credit bureaus can still sell credit scores and monitoring subscriptions, but only after consumers have received their full reports. FTC commissioners have left themselves room to implement even more stringent guidelines if consumers complain about fraud or misdirection on credit agencies’ sites after April 1.

As for the free credit report pirates, it isn’t clear whether the new rules may force them into the restaurant business for real. Canadian songwriter and comedian Eric Violette plays the lead pirate, and he’s been too busy working on his band’s new album to comment on the regulations. Marketers hyping free credit reports on radio or television have until September 1 to add disclosure notices to their ads, and it’s unclear whether watered down language will generate enough traffic to justify running the spots.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/free-credit-report-regulations/feed/ 1 Contact Information for Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/contact-information-for-experian-equifax-and-transunion/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/contact-information-for-experian-equifax-and-transunion/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:31:44 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=588 Most everyone knows that it’s important to check your credit report on a regular basis. But how do you fix a credit report error if you find one? Dispute it, of course.

Here is the contact info for the three major credit reporting bureaus, including the mailing address, phone number, and a link to their online credit report dispute form:

Equifax Contact Info

Equifax Information Services, LLC
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta,GA 30374

Phone: (800) 685-1111
Online dispute form: link

Experian Contact Info

Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-0949

Phone: (888) 397-3742
Online dispute form: link

TransUnion Contact Info

TransUnion Corp.
P.O. Box 2000
Springfield, PA 19022-2000

Phone: (800) 888-4213
Online dispute form: link

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/contact-information-for-experian-equifax-and-transunion/feed/ 5 MyFICO Discount Codes http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/myfico-discount-codes/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/myfico-discount-codes/#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:09:56 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=535 Every once in awhile I run across MyFICO discount codes, so I thought I’d start compiling them here in one place. For starters, here are two codes that give you 20-30% off your purchase:

  • myFICOis8 – 30% discount!
  • CPPSAVINGS – 20% discount!

As always, they also offer a free 30 day trial on their ScoreWatch service, which gives you free access to your credit reports as well as your real FICO score.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/myfico-discount-codes/feed/ 0 Free Credit Scores from Credit Karma http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/free-credit-scores-from-credit-karma/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/free-credit-scores-from-credit-karma/#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:06:38 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=532 Have you ever heard of Credit Karma? If not, you should check them out. They offer free credit score tracking. No, it’s not a real FICO score — for that, you’ll need to try a service like MyFICO ScoreWatch — but it still gives you a sense for where you stand. And like I said above, it’s free.

Setting up an account was very simple, though they do ask for some fairly sensitive information including your SSN. This makes sense, as they need to access your TransUnion credit record in order to estimate your score. Since it’s free, they don’t ask for any sort of payment information, and you don’t have to remember to cancel anything.

In terms of accuracy, they seem to do pretty well. In fact, my “official” FICO score is just short of 800 and Credit Karma had me pegged at 777. Another advantage of their service is that they track your score over time and provide you with a graph of the resulting data.

If you’d rather get a “real” FICO score then, like I said above, you should check out the free ScoreWatch trial from MyFICO. But if a reasonably accurate estimate will suffice, then Credit Karma is a great alternative.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/free-credit-scores-from-credit-karma/feed/ 0 Nine Ways to Improve Your Credit Score http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/nine-ways-to-improve-your-credit-score/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/nine-ways-to-improve-your-credit-score/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:00:11 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=511 For those of you who are trying to shore up your credit score, here are ten tops for improving your credit score, courtesy of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. Most of this is pretty standard stuff, but it’s still worth keeping in mind.

  • Pay your bills on time
  • If you missed a payment, get current and stay current
  • Be aware that paying off a collection account or closing an account on which you previously missed a payment, will not remove it from your credit report
  • If you are having difficulty making payments, contact your creditor or see a credit counselor
  • Keep balances low on credit cards and other “revolving credit”
  • Pay off debt rather than moving it around
  • Don’t close unused credit cards as a short term strategy
  • Avoid credit repair agencies that charge a fee to improve your credit score by removing negative, but accurate information from your credit report
  • If you have been managing credit for a short time, don’t open a lot of new accounts too rapidly

Like I said, pretty standard stuff, but a good reminder just the same. If you’re not sure where you stand, remember that you can get a free credit score from MyFICO.

Source: ABC15.com

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/nine-ways-to-improve-your-credit-score/feed/ 0 Experian Credit Scores to Go Dark http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/experian-credit-scores-to-go-dark/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/experian-credit-scores-to-go-dark/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:18:28 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=474 If you want to see your Experian credit score, you’d better hurry. Fair Isaac, the company that created the FICO score, will not be allowed to sell credit scores based on Experian’s data beyond February 14th, 2009. In the past, you’ve been able to check your FICO scores based on data from all three credit bureaus via myFICO.com.

For their part, Experian plans to continue selling their own proprietary credit scores to directly to lenders. In other words, lenders will be able to check your Experian score, but you won’t be able to check it yourself. The timing for this is especially bad, in that creditors are raising their standards, and small scoring differences can make a big difference for borrowers.

“We are surprised that Experian made such a decision, particularly given what’s going on in the national economy and with consumers being concerned about their credit standing,” said Tom Quinn, vice president for scoring at Fair Isaac. “Their decision means that consumers will no longer be able to see or manage their scores based on the Experian data.”

If you’re interested in checking your Experian-based FICO score, your only real option is to buy it in the next week or so. One possibility would be to sign up for myFICO Credit Complete, which gives you all three credit scores, but also costs close to $50. Alternatively, if you just want to check in on things and are okay with receiving a single score, you can sign up for the free trial of ScoreWatch, which will give you free access to your Equifax score for 30 days. Just don’t forget to cancel.

Source: NY Times

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/experian-credit-scores-to-go-dark/feed/ 2 myFICO 50% Discount http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/myfico-50-discount/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/myfico-50-discount/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:05:54 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=452 For the next two days, you can get 50% off any myFICO products by entering the promo code 50FICOKIT when you sign up. Also keep in mind that most of their offers come with a free trial, which can be cancelled at no cost before the trial runs out. If nothing else, you can use this to get a sneak peek at your credit score. While there are a number of ways to get your credit report for free, it’s harder to find free access to your (real) credit scores.

Here’s a list of some of the more popular myFICO packages:

Remember, offer ends on 1/22/09, so don’t drag your feet.

Via: StopBuyingCrap.com

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/myfico-50-discount/feed/ 0 Beware the Phantom Credit Check When Opening a Bank Account http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/beware-the-phantom-credit-check-when-opening-a-bank-account/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/beware-the-phantom-credit-check-when-opening-a-bank-account/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:25:53 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/beware-the-phantom-credit-check-when-opening-a-bank-account/ Did you know that banks sometimes perform a hard credit check before allowing you to open an account? While this most often happens when you open an account with an overdraft line of credit, it can happen with plain old checking and savings accounts, as well.

Why should you care?

Because hard credit checks can reduce your credit score. Admittedly, it’s a small effect, so those with stellar credit don’t have a lot to worry about. But if you have borderline credit, these sorts of things can be enough to make move you down into undesirable territory.

How can you protect yourself

The simplest way to protect your credit score is to ask the bank whether or not they’re going to run a credit check. Of course, if you really want/need the account, there’s not much you can do about it, but you’ll at least be making an informed decision.

If you’re familiar with any banks that do a hard credit check during the account opening process, please leave a comment below. I’ll start… I have it on good authority that ING Direct does this with their ING Electric Orange checking account, presumably because they offer an overdraft line of credit.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/beware-the-phantom-credit-check-when-opening-a-bank-account/feed/ 1 Surviving the Economic Crisis With Your Credit Intact http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/surviving-the-economic-crisis-with-your-credit-intact/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/surviving-the-economic-crisis-with-your-credit-intact/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:21:57 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=160 As a followup to my earlier article about credit card issuers reducing credit limits, I wanted to highlight some emerging problems in the credit realm, along with some tips for protecting yourself.

Credit Card Issuers Reducing Limits

As I noted previously, card issuers have started reducing their customers’ limits as credit has become tighter. Here’s how to protect yourself:

  • Keep a close eye on your mail for any notifications of a change in your limit.
  • Login and check your account regularly. While issuers are supposed to provide you with prior notice of any changes, you can never be too careful.
  • Save room under your limits for true emergencies. Better yet, build up an emergency fund so you don’t have to rely on credit in a pinch.

Credit Card Issuers Increasing Rates

As credit has dried up, issuers have also started charging more for it. Here’s what you can do to avoid overpaying:

Credit Card Issuers Tightening Standards

Given all of the recent problems with people failing to make good on their debt obligations, credit card issuers have also tightened their approval standards. Here’s what you can do to make sure you’re in a good position to get credit when you need it:

  • First and foremost, stay current on all of your payments.
  • Keep a close eye on your credit report.
  • Dispute any inaccuracies to get them removed from your record.
  • Do whatever else you can to improve your credit score.

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/surviving-the-economic-crisis-with-your-credit-intact/feed/ 6 “Credit Crisis” Sale at myFico.com http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/credit-crisis-sale-at-myficocom/ http://creditaddict.com/archives/credit-crisis-sale-at-myficocom/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:12:28 +0000 admin http://www.creditaddict.com/?p=159 I recently received an e-mail touting a 20% off sale on credit scores via myFico.com. While the “Credit Crisis” name borders on fear-mongering, there are times when you need to know your credit score. If you’re in such a situation, you can order FICO Credit Complete and get credit reports plus FICO scores from all three credit bureaus. In order to get the discount, enter the following promo code: FALLFCC11. The 20% discount offer expires on October 25th, 2008.

Alternatively, if you follow this link, you can sign up for a free trial of Score Watch, which will give you unlimited access to TransUnion credit report and TransUnion FICO score for 30 days. If you’re interested in the free trial, then…

---
Related Articles at Credit Card Addict:


]]> http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/credit-crisis-sale-at-myficocom/feed/ 0