Last week, the Senate passed a financial reform bill including an amendment to grant free credit scores in cases of adverse action. That means you can get a free credit score if you're denied a credit card, loan, or a job or if you're approved but for a higher interest rate because of your credit score. Federal law already allows you to get a free credit report in those instances.
You'll get free access to the credit score the lender used to make a decision on your application. Warning, this might not be a FICO score. Instead, you could wind up with a VantageScore or the lender's proprietary score. The score may not be on a 300 to 850 scale.
If you're turned down for a job, you probably won't get a free credit score since employers use credit reports, not credit scores as part of the hiring process. You'll still able to get a free copy of the credit report used in the hiring decision if you're turned down for a job based on information in your credit report.
If the law is passed, people with good credit, who would presumably be approved for credit-based applications, would never get access to a free credit score. If you want free credit scores for everyone, regardless of an adverse action, write to your Senator and ask that free credit scores be provided with our annual credit reports. Everyone is entitled to an annual credit report regardless of whether you've been turned down for credit.
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