Credit score vs your credit report

Your credit report and your credit score are two very different things. Rachel DePompa is on your side with the big differences between the two.

According to a recent survey by the financial website Nerdwallet, 82% of Americans think their credit report includes their credit score.

Some credit reports will put a credit score at the top but many don’t. Sara Rathner a personal finance expert with NerdWallet says your credit score includes information that appears in your credit report and that’s what helps to influence the score.

“But you need to access your credit score separately to keep an eye on it. And you need to understand that the credit score you see might not match the credit score a lender uses when they make decisions on one of your applications,“ Rathner said.

Now you can talk to the lender about what’s going on, but Rathner says don’t be surprised to see variations and discrepancies in your credit score because there are different scoring models that are used in different loan decisions.

Her best advice is to pull your credit report twice a year to make sure everything is correct. and check in on your credit score from time to time as well.