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How do you get scored? it happens automatically.

Both Fair Isaac Corporation and the credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) have minimum requirements that must be met so they can calculate a FICO credit score. Once you meet these requirements, a score is automatically calculated whenever it's requested.

Fair Isaac's requirements to be scored are as follows:

• You can't have a "decreased" reference on your credit report.
• You must have at least one credit account that has been open for a minimum of six months. This account cannot be in dispute and it can't be a a student loan in deferment.
• You must have at lease on credit account that has been reported to a credit reporting agency within the past six months. Again, this account cannot be in dispute and it can't be a student loan in deferment.

The credit-reporting agencies' requirements to be scored are as follows:

• Your credit report can't be in "special review" by the credit reporting agencies. (One example of "special review" is when a consumer hires an attorney to sue the credit reporting agencies.)
• TransUnion and Equifax both have file size limitations. This means that a person's credit file can be only so big. If your credit file exceeds these limits, one of two things can happen: either you won't be able to get a score, or your report will be split into two separate reports.

There is also a situation where you will have a score, but you won't be able to access it. If there is any sort of fraud alert on your credit file, a score can still be generated for a lender, but if you won't be able to purchase it for yourself until you remove the fraud alert.

In summary, the vast majority of people qualify to be scored by FICO. However, certain segments of the population are more likely to not have a score. One of the most frequent groups that don't have credit scores are people who are just starting to use credit and haven't built up enough of a credit file to qualify for a score (often young people and immigrants who have just moved to the United States). Another group likely to have this problem are older consumers who simply don't have a need to use credit any longer. In their cases, their credit files have become stagnant over several years and will not qualify for a score.

If you would like additional information about how to receive your credit score or repair it, please contact us and we will be gladly to help you with any transaction concerning your credit score.