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Cool, this is good news as it means I might actually be able to find out my credit score. I recently sent in an application to Equifax to get my credit score a

Cool, this is good news as it means I might actually be able to find out my credit score. I recently sent in an application to Equifax to get my credit score along with all the security documents, proof of address, passport, drivers license, registered mail etc. and they rejected my application because I didn't provide a hydro bill. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment and I don't pay hydro, so I sent in a copy of the lease agreement instead but that wasn't good enough :(

jitix 9y ago
Same here.. I applied for a loan and they found that Equifax doesn't even have my report (although the other two do). After countless phone calls they agreed to start the investigation and then the hack happened. The whole concept of private credit bureaus (that to multiple ones whose data dont match up) is fucked up. I think the federal govt should step in an put a stop to this.
- rothbardrand 9y ago
  The federal government is the reason it is this way-- the FCRA "Fair credit reporting act" is what give this bureaus virtual immunity from liability for propagating false information and the like. This is a great example of where regulation is anti-consumer because the regulations that pretend to protect consumers provide very little protection for consumers and a great deal of protection for the CRAs.
fractal618 9y ago
> Cool, this is good news as it means I might actually be able to find out my credit score. Hahaha
- sova 9y ago
  the brighter side is the side of genius
pbourke 9y ago
Score or report? You're entitled to a copy of your credit report annually from each credit bureau, but not the score. I believe lenders typically use a score computed by s third party - often the "FICO Score," from Fair Isaac.
- hedora 9y ago
  It is common for them to refuse to give you the legally required annual credit report because the data they use to verify your identity is wrong. Presumably, if you had your record from the dump, you could type in the wrong answers they are looking for and get your free equifax report. Usually, only one or two of the big three have a poison record that blocks access, so I guess this would only reliably unlock equifax reports.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
vadym909 9y ago
If its only the score you want, cant you get that from creditkarma for free?
- jlgaddis 9y ago
  You can get a "FAKO" score from CreditKarma.
  - tryckbarpingvin 9y ago
    Is that a play on FICO plus fake? What is fake about CeeditKarma?
  - astura 9y ago
    FYI, "FAKO" is VantageScore 3.0. It's colloquially called FAKO because 90% of lenders use some variation of FICO instead.
    - brianmartinek 9y ago
      Regardless if it's FAKO or FICO score that you are looking at, they are calculated on the same credit history in your credit report (as far as I know). So, even if the scores are calculated in different ways it's reasonable to expect a high VantageScore 3.0 score will also show as a high FICO score too, even if the numbers aren't exact. Does anyone know the specific differences in how these two scores are calculated?
      - tonyztan 9y ago
        I believe the FICO algorithm is not public, so there would be no way for us to know exactly how they calculate our scores. We only know the factors that go in to the algorithm, and the score that comes out. Basically, a black box.
        ballenf 9y ago
        I've read in another thread here on HN that we also don't know the factors that go in. Someone listed off things like company title, marital status, # kids, car make/model kind of stuff. No idea if they were full of BS, but there's no requirement that the score is based solely on items in your credit report. We can probably (hopefully?) be sure that no race or race-correlated factors are included. (And same for other protected classes.)
smsm42 9y ago
CreditKarma does it for free, if you're in the US (no idea about outside the US). So does mint.com. So do many other credit card companies. I now have 6 or 7 credit scores, all curiously different (though within certain range of each other).
- ensignavenger 9y ago
  Because there are lots of different scoring algorithms. There are several different ones from FICO themselves (so there is no single one FICO score), and they have several competitors that have different algorithms. Even when using the same algorithm, you will have a different score for each credit report.
  - smsm42 9y ago
    True but my experience they are all within the same range. If you get "good" score on one of them, you'd get the same on others. They may emphasize slightly different things but there's not that much difference. Also, nobody really checks that score with a point accuracy - there are ranges, but I'd be very surprised if the difference within range, say 750 to 765, means too much.
    - ensignavenger 9y ago
      Yeah, they are usually are similar. The thing is, for many underwriters, if you ate even 1 point below their range on even one report, you will be rejected. Usually there are things most consumers can do to boost their score by a few points, though, reasonably quickly.
XR0CSWV3h3kZWg 9y ago
0.2 BTC is currently >600 USD. There's cheaper way to get a credit score.
- cdelsolar 9y ago
  Well yeah, but you can get your credit score and that of thousands of other people!

jitix 9y ago

Same here.. I applied for a loan and they found that Equifax doesn't even have my report (although the other two do). After countless phone calls they agreed to start the investigation and then the hack happened. The whole concept of private credit bureaus (that to multiple ones whose data dont match up) is fucked up. I think the federal govt should step in an put a stop to this.

rothbardrand 9y ago
The federal government is the reason it is this way-- the FCRA "Fair credit reporting act" is what give this bureaus virtual immunity from liability for propagating false information and the like. This is a great example of where regulation is anti-consumer because the regulations that pretend to protect consumers provide very little protection for consumers and a great deal of protection for the CRAs.

fractal618 9y ago

> Cool, this is good news as it means I might actually be able to find out my credit score. Hahaha

sova 9y ago
the brighter side is the side of genius

pbourke 9y ago

Score or report? You're entitled to a copy of your credit report annually from each credit bureau, but not the score. I believe lenders typically use a score computed by s third party - often the "FICO Score," from Fair Isaac.

hedora 9y ago
It is common for them to refuse to give you the legally required annual credit report because the data they use to verify your identity is wrong. Presumably, if you had your record from the dump, you could type in the wrong answers they are looking for and get your free equifax report. Usually, only one or two of the big three have a poison record that blocks access, so I guess this would only reliably unlock equifax reports.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

vadym909 9y ago

If its only the score you want, cant you get that from creditkarma for free?

jlgaddis 9y ago
You can get a "FAKO" score from CreditKarma.
- tryckbarpingvin 9y ago
  Is that a play on FICO plus fake? What is fake about CeeditKarma?
- astura 9y ago
  FYI, "FAKO" is VantageScore 3.0. It's colloquially called FAKO because 90% of lenders use some variation of FICO instead.
  - brianmartinek 9y ago
    Regardless if it's FAKO or FICO score that you are looking at, they are calculated on the same credit history in your credit report (as far as I know). So, even if the scores are calculated in different ways it's reasonable to expect a high VantageScore 3.0 score will also show as a high FICO score too, even if the numbers aren't exact. Does anyone know the specific differences in how these two scores are calculated?
    - tonyztan 9y ago
      I believe the FICO algorithm is not public, so there would be no way for us to know exactly how they calculate our scores. We only know the factors that go in to the algorithm, and the score that comes out. Basically, a black box.
      - ballenf 9y ago
        I've read in another thread here on HN that we also don't know the factors that go in. Someone listed off things like company title, marital status, # kids, car make/model kind of stuff. No idea if they were full of BS, but there's no requirement that the score is based solely on items in your credit report. We can probably (hopefully?) be sure that no race or race-correlated factors are included. (And same for other protected classes.)

smsm42 9y ago

CreditKarma does it for free, if you're in the US (no idea about outside the US). So does mint.com. So do many other credit card companies. I now have 6 or 7 credit scores, all curiously different (though within certain range of each other).

ensignavenger 9y ago
Because there are lots of different scoring algorithms. There are several different ones from FICO themselves (so there is no single one FICO score), and they have several competitors that have different algorithms. Even when using the same algorithm, you will have a different score for each credit report.
- smsm42 9y ago
  True but my experience they are all within the same range. If you get "good" score on one of them, you'd get the same on others. They may emphasize slightly different things but there's not that much difference. Also, nobody really checks that score with a point accuracy - there are ranges, but I'd be very surprised if the difference within range, say 750 to 765, means too much.
  - ensignavenger 9y ago
    Yeah, they are usually are similar. The thing is, for many underwriters, if you ate even 1 point below their range on even one report, you will be rejected. Usually there are things most consumers can do to boost their score by a few points, though, reasonably quickly.

XR0CSWV3h3kZWg 9y ago

0.2 BTC is currently >600 USD. There's cheaper way to get a credit score.

cdelsolar 9y ago
Well yeah, but you can get your credit score and that of thousands of other people!