Dean's Blog

By law, you can take advantage of your free credit report once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion).

To get your free credit report, go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com and select one of the bureaus. If you select a different report once every four months, twelve months will have gone by, and you can start over with the first credit bureau again. It’s a great way to monitor your credit all year long.

Now, they will not provide your credit scores for free. You can purchase the scores if you wish. However, these scores are based on a consumer scoring model, and it’s different then the scoring model they provide for the mortgage industry – the consumer scores are usually higher. Additionally, even if you did purchase your score, we cannot use that report for a loan submission because the scoring models differ. Nonetheless, you may want to purchase one bureau’s scores for about $8 if you’re interested.

There are several websites claiming to give you your credit report for free, but they actually make you sign up for a credit monitoring service for a monthly fee. www.AnnualCreditReport.com is the only website where you can take advantage of your free credit report once a year.