Credit Reporting

One important step in building a good credit history is to regularly monitor your credit history reports for mistakes. The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows you to obtain one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies. Those agencies are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. I believe the best place to obtain your free credit report is AnnualCreditReport.com. You can obtain your credit reports through other websites, but they often try to sell you additional products with your free report. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only site authorized by law to provide the free annual reports. See the Federal Trade Commission website to confirm this or see their helpful questions and answers section.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act does not require companies to provide your credit score for free. Your credit score is different than your credit report. Credit scores are calculated based on information in your credit report and used by lenders to determine your credit worthiness. Your credit score is how lenders often decide what interest rate to charge you. The credit scores are commonly known as FICO scores and can range from 300 to 850. The higher your score is, the better your credit is. People with a FICO score above 760 have excellent credit, and those below 620 have poor credit. Most people score within the 600 to 800 range.

When researching about credit reports and scores, I found useful information at the following websites.

FICO Credit Education Center - The company who calculates FICO credit scores has an educational section of their website which is the best resource for learning about credit scores.
Understanding Your FICO Score - This PDF document provides a thorough overview of FICO credit scoring and breaks down the attributes used to calculate your credit score.
FICO Score Estimator - To obtain your actual credit score requires a payment, but you can get a free quick estimate of your credit score range with this ten question survey.
Loan Savings Calculator - This calculator shows how your credit score can affect the interest you would pay on mortgages and auto loans. Great motivation to improve your score.
What's My Score - Fun educational resource from the Visa credit card company. The content is directed at college students but provides quality information useful to everyone.

Your credit history is like your reputation. Be careful with both because they are difficult to repair.