Credit Report

[Engine09]

I know that Equifax will give you a report for $22, but is there any way to get your basic info/score for free?

I don't need a report, so I don't want to pay, just curious.

I've heard that in the States, the government now requires the 3 major credit reporting agencies to provide you with a FREE report once a year. Do we have anything like this here in Canada?

Thanks

[bleeds green]

If you go to equifax's website and order it you have to pay for it but if you write in and mail it requesting your credit report they will sent it back to you free of charge. You just have to pay for the convience of getting it right away off of the website.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

You have to provide some additional details to verify it is you to to Equifax, like a phone bill, a credit card bill, and another price of ID or something crazy like that. It is free though.

Quite the interesting report that comes back.

[Engine09]

Nice! I didn't realize the mail in thing was free. They kinda hide that away while they have the huge banner up for the pay online service.

Thanks guys, printing it up now. Just curious what's on there, hopefully nothing bad.


On a side note, someone once told me that you lose points, or minimally damage your credit score everytime you just apply for credit. Any truth to that?

[Antithesis]

My understanding is that what you've said is true. It might be more like "if you apply too many times in too short a period" though. I guess they look at it as "why does this guy need credit so bad?"

If that makes any sense ...

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

On a side note, someone once told me that you lose points, or minimally damage your credit score everytime you just apply for credit. Any truth to that?

I'm also no expert, but I think the main issue is how much credit you are seeking. Let's say you apply to Visa for a $5000 card. If they see that you've also submitted 10 other applications this month, they may be worried that you now have $50K in un-secured debt.

Moral of the story is if you want a bunch of Flames blankets, go out and buy them.

[Ace]

The interesting stuff i found was companies i didn't directly deal with, checking my credit... I called them all up and asked them why the heck they we're doing it.

Each company that checks you has their phone number listed.

[FireFly]

Working for Telus Mobility, I can assure that every credit check you do counts against you as far as credit rating goes. I haven't applied for credit in over a year I think and mine is still low. It's the reason we've changed our credit policy so that if you activate more than one phone, you only have to do the one credit check. Doesn't matter what it is or how much you're looking for. They assume that if you have money, you don't need credit. If you need credit, you must not have money. It's a dumb system that doesn't take into account things like home phones and such where you have to do a credit check.