There are several ways to get a credit score:
From a mortgage scoring notice: If you apply for a residential mortgage loan and the lender uses your credit score, the lender will send you a notice with the credit score.
From an adverse action notice: If you apply for credit and get turned down, have to pay a higher deposit fee (like for a cell phone plan), or are offered different terms due to your credit, you may receive a disclosure from the lender with your credit score.
From a risk-based pricing notice: You may receive a notice of your credit score from your lender if you received credit on terms less favorable than the terms available to most consumers who got credit from that lender.
From your financial service provider: Many major credit card companies and some auto loan companies have begun to provide credit scores for all their customers on a monthly basis. The score is usually listed on your monthly statement or can be found by logging into your account online.
By talking to a non-profit counselor: Non-profit credit counselors and HUD-approved housing counseling agencies can often provide you with a free credit report and score and help you review them.
By using a credit score service: Many services and websites advertise a “free credit score.” Some sites may be funded through advertising and not charge a fee. Other sites may require that you sign up for a credit monitoring service with a monthly subscription fee in order to get your “free” score. These services are often advertised as “free” trials, but if you don’t cancel within the specified period (often as short as one week), you could be on the hook for a monthly fee. Before you sign up to try one of these services, be sure you know what you are signing up for and how much it really costs.
By buying a score: You can buy a score directly from a credit reporting company. You also can buy your FICO credit score at myfico.com . Other services may also offer scores for purchase. If you decide to purchase a credit score, you are not required to purchase credit protection, identity theft monitoring, or other services that may be offered at the same time.
