Why Doesn't an Equifax Report Include the Score?

When you ran your Equifax credit report, you probably did not see your credit rating. Equifax acted legally, despite federal free credit report laws. As of 2011, you must purchase your credit score until the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act bill, which introduced regulations in the financial sector to reduce predatory lending, takes effect. In the meantime, you can sometimes receive free credit scores from your creditors.

Identification

Equifax does not include credit scores with its credit reports unless you purchase the score as an add-on. In 2011, the Fair Credit Reporting Act only requires the major credit reporting bureaus to let you see your credit file. Your credit score calculation is the result of an equation that depends on your credit file. Thus, credit scores do not fall under the act.

Dodd-Frank Bill

Congress included a provision in the Dodd-Frank bill that lets consumers see their FICO credit score for free. In general, the Dodd-Frank bill requires creditors to reveal the credit score used to deny loan requests or take "adverse action." As of May 2011, federal regulators have yet to enforce the bills because they cannot decide how to implement these rules for lender, insurance company, landlord or employer. For example, employers check credit reports on applicants but do not look at their credit scores. Once the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Trade Commission accept the proposed Dodd-Frank regulations, you can start receiving your free credit scores.

Considerations

The score provided by Equifax is not necessarily the score you want to use to judge your creditworthiness. Most lenders that employ a credit scoring model prefer the Fair Isaac Risk model. Equifax sells a score like the FICO model called a "BEACON" score. Subtle variations between the FICO and Equifax models result in an unknown effect on your score, so your BEACON score might be the same or wildly different than your FICO score. (ref 3)

Tip

Equifax and the other credit bureaus run promotions from time to time that let you see your credit scores for free or a small charge if you use one of their new services, such as credit monitoring, for a trial period. The Fair Isaac Corporation also sometimes runs promotions that give away free FICO scores if you sign up for trial offers. Alternatively, you could just ask a creditor to reveal your scores after he runs a credit check. Once the Dodd-Frank bill goes into effect, a creditor must automatically reveal your FICO score if it rejects you for a loan or service based on your credit.