credit report, credit score -- clueless, help!

Hi all! Never posted in this forum before. I am looking into a place to live and some seek to run a credit report on me. I would kind of like to see what I'm up against before they do, as I have no idea. When I looked up a place that you can get the big 3 reports from once a year, it mentioned that it does not give your credit score. I don't entirely understand that. But anyhow...

I'm very hinky about sensitive information going off into cyber-land and want to be sure to pick a site that is reputable. Recommendations?

Will I even HAVE a credit report if I have no credit cards? I had one when I was married, but we're talking almost 9 years ago now, so I suspect that may not enter into the picture.

Sorry to be so clueless...

There is one place, I think annualcreditscore.com (but I am not positive), that the government does that lets you annually view your credit report. I shows the good and the bad on your credit. If you choose you can buy your # from any/all of the 3 major credit agencies.

I have used credit karma in the past and it is free and includes a credit score. I've had no problems with them. They still send me notices if something drastic changes even though I haven't signed in for years. I would start with them I think.

I don't know for sure but I think everyone (adults) has a credit score. I have no idea what would show up with no accounts. Do you have/have you had a car loan? Any other loan? Those matter along with credit cards. Student loans, mortgages, etc. also show up.

Credit karma, credit sesame, allow you to check your score for free. Annual credit report lets you pull your credit report once a year. Any and all are good.

the easiest way to explain credit scoring and how it works is that .....

any time you get a loan from a bank or have bills that you pay, this goes on a report to a credit report company. this information goes into a computer and the computer attaches a "score" based on how much debt you have vs how much you paid back your loans and bills .

you will ..............not.............. have any credit score if you are not paying any bills, have not gotten a bank loan. and have no credit cards.

you build a credit score by ...

getting a credit card, purchasing something using that credit card and then paying the credit card bill. paying the bill on time and in full will get you a good credit history, not paying the credit card bill will get you bad , poor credit history.

anytime you purchase or do something where you will have a bill to pay, and you pay your bills on time it will get you good score, not paying the bills will get you a bad/ poor score.

why do places like stores, banks, rental managers/ landlords check your credit score... they want to know whether you will pay your bills with them. a bad score tells them you are a debt risk and a good score says you will most likely pay your bills on time.

if you have no credit history yet (which is what most young adults are at, just leaving their parents homes to rent on their own, or college student on their own for the first time) there is ways to build a good credit history. america has prepaid debit cards where you go into a store, purchase the card and "upload" money onto this card, then pay using this debit card instead of carrying around cash.

many stores have credit card applications... almost everyone with no credit history gets approved for store credit cards, and sometimes even those with bad credit history will too. stores understand that people want to build a credit history and clean up their past credit history. after you have a store credit card use the card to purchase with the card something you already know you have the money for, then set that cash aside, when you get the bill pay it in full. this will build good credit history.

If you have a case manager or therapist they can print the form that’s available online at any of the three credit agencies websites. You can request one free copy free each agency once per year. However it DOES NOT INCLUDE YOUR CREDIT SCORE they charge a fee for that. I do not know the fee. I happened to purchase a new car and my sales rep gave me a copy of my score. Then I started using Credit Karma and it is a reputable app. I would recommend speaking to a bank representative before using repaid credit cards. Because with those cards they usually charge a monthly service fee. I use to teach life skills classes and I’ve never heard of prepaid credit cards reporting to the credit agencies. I’d verify that with a reputable bank or call one of the credit agencies. That’s just like mom and pop car dealerships. They do not report to the credit agencies. Be careful