Report And Your Credit Score?

Q: Where is the best place to get a free, reliable, and accurate credit report and your credit score? Which company is known as the market leader in providing free consumer credit reports and scores? Also, do I get points knocked off my credit score for requesting a credit report with credit score?

A: -Do you understand what a credit score is? Do you understand that while everyone and their brother may offer to give you a score (my assessment of your score is that you are a 380), the only one that means anything is the one used by a potential credit grantor? Do you understand that 99% of the credit grantors today use FICO? Do you understand that FICO scores are based on the credit report used to generate the score, so its possible (likely) you will have three different scores, one for each

of the 3 major credit agencies? -Ok, what good is it to know the score (any score)? So why pay for one? Do banks give you 1% off the interest rate of your home loan if you can correctly guess your FICO score within 10 points? I didn't think so. You get the same good or crappy interest rate regardless of whether YOU know your score, right? Does knowing your score, good, bad, or in the middle, relieve you of the need to shop around for the best loan? I doubt it. It definitely is worth it to check your credit reports and attempt to remove the bad stuff (especially if it's really an error, like something an identity thief or someone with the same name as you).