What exactly do you get in a free credit report ?

What exactly do you get in a free credit report ?
In this article we will discuss the misconception of free
credit reports. There are lots of advertisements out there
saying get your free credit report. But what exactly does a
free credit report come with? I have personally seen about
3 different types of credit reports being advertised out
there.

The first type of credit report is the credit report where
you only get a credit report from one of the bureaus. There
are 3 bureaus, and they are Equifax, Trans Union, and
Experian. Typically the offer includes a report only from
one of these bureaus. You might ask yourself how does this
help me, and the answer is it does not help very much. The
reason is since there are 3 bureaus, and they all report
somewhat different information; you might want to get a
credit report from all three bureaus. This is called a
tri-merge, or a 3-1 credit report. In other words you get
one report with all three bureaus and what they are
currently reporting about you in regards to loans
outstanding with your creditors.

The second type of credit report is the 3-1 credit report
with credit score. This is somewhat better; you get all
three bureaus reporting your information along with only
one of the agencies giving a score. Well you might ask
yourself again, what is the advantage and disadvantages of
this type of credit report? Since there are 3 bureaus
reporting your credit, it would only make sense to get all
3 scores since that is what most lenders look at. Mortgage
companies pull your 3-1 credit report with all three scores
and typically use the middle score for qualifying purposes.
If this is the industry standard in the qualifying process,
shouldn't you see the same report? I would have to say yes.

The third type of credit report is the 3-1 credit report
with all 3 scores. This is the best type of credit report,
because it is what lenders look at. Most people out there
getting a free copy of there credit reports are not really
sure what they are getting. Annualcreditreport.com
advertises that you are entitled to a free copy of your
credit report once a year, but fail to mention you don't
get your scores. It is in your best interest to get your
credit report with all 3 bureaus and all 3 scores,
especially since this is what most creditors look at in the
determining process for lending you money.

Here is the break down for credit scores and how they are
classified for mortgage:

• 780-850 - Low Risk
• 740-780 - Medium -Low Risk
• 690-740- Medium Risk
• 620-690- Medium High Risk
• 620 and Below - High Risk or "Sub-Prime."

With all of this being said, it obviously makes more sense
to get your 3-1 credit report with all 3 credit scores.
Especially since that is what creditors are looking at.
When pulling a consumer credit report it does not affect
your credit scores.

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In this article we discuss the misconceptions of free
credit report offers, and what you really get. In order to
get your credit report with all 3 bureaus and all 3 scores,
go to http://www.my720fico.com