In my opinion, not much.
Writing in the Washington Post, Michelle Singletary argues that all consumers should have annual access to both their credit report and their credit scores. She feels that Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who proposed the Fair Access to Credit Scores Act of 2010, did not go far enough in his request.
Under his proposal, those who have been denied credit based on their credit scores will have free access to their report and their scores – without even asking. This will create a financial burden on the creditors who turned them down. In addition, it is another “something for nothing” program that our entitlement-minded society is fast becoming addicted to.
We have to wonder who should be responsible for paying the cost of compiling those credit scores, and for sending them to the consumers, if the consumers are to have them for free. Should Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion bear the costs, or should they become yet another burden on the taxpayer?
Some might argue that the scores only cost $8 each. But according to a recent survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, about 1/3 of the U.S. population asks for their free credit report each year. That’s over 100 million people.
I think each consumer should pay their own $8 – whether they’ve been turned down for credit or not. But I also believe that looking at your credit report only once per year is not sound financial management.
Not in an age when even those who supply credit reports admit that 70% of all reports contain errors. Not in an age when identity theft has become big business.
A consumer could access his or her report in January and feel that everything was on track – their scores were high and they were doing fine. By February that could all change, due to a data entry error or due to a thief using their credit information. By the time they apply for a loan in September, they could have scores that are in the basement.
That’s why I believe in services such as Identity Guard. It’s true that while the first report, with scores, is free, consumers do have to pay a monthly fee for monthly reports and monitoring. But that monitoring could save them from months of grief.
Monitoring alerts the consumer to any change in their credit report – such as the addition of a credit line or a change of address. These are both events that if not true, signal an incidence of identity theft. And if you’ve ever gone through reclaiming and repairing your credit after an identity thief has been using it, you know that the sooner the use is halted and repairs are begun, the better.
It’s also true that the score you receive is not the official FICO score. But it is very close, so a consumer can tell if he or she needs to make some changes in credit usage.
Author:Marte
CreditScoreQuick.com
