Free Experian Credit Report Score
2010
Should I purchase my credit score from Experian?
My husband and I may be in the process of looking for home loans soon. It has been several years since I checked my credit report, and I have no idea what my credit score is right now as I have never applied for a loan.
I’m ordering my free credit report through Experian… should I pay to get my VantageScore as well? Is that an “official” score like the kind the banks would be using to determine my credit rating?
Is there a better place to purchase one’s credit score?
I get the credit REPORT for free, but if I want to see my numerical credit SCORE (just so I have some idea of my standing before I start talking to lenders) I will either have to pay for it… or wait to see the lender.
Do not waste your money buying a score from Experian. Vantage is not the score creditors use.
Creditors use FICO. Equifax uses FICO. You can also purchase FICO scores for Equifax and TransUnion at MyFico.com. Consumers cannot purchase FICO scores for Experian any more.
TransUnion and Experian sites both use Vantage (scale to 990 vs FICO’s 850) or they each have their own Fakko scores which are even more worthless. Third party monitoring services use Fakko scores.
CreditKarma.com offers a free score estimator based on your TransUnion credit report. It’s not FICO. But it’s kinda, sorta like FICO, give or take 50 points or so. Good enough if you are just curious about your score.
You should know that mortgage lenders will pull credit reports and FICO scores for all three credit bureaus that are geared to mortgages. Your scores will all be different than what you get with consumer versions.
Also it’s a good idea to check all three of your credit reports to make sure they are accurate and there are no surprises. Mortgage companies will require you to settle any derogatory items before approving you.
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