Experts weigh in on credit score woes

It’s something many of us worry about — our credit score.

But can you manage that score without spending any money?

We heard from one Cathedral City man after he said he got scammed by a credit reporting website.

Glenn Belcher wants to improve his credit score so he can buy a house.

But after signing up for myscore.com, he said he didn’t get what he paid for.

“I have never received all three scores and I have not used it every month,” Belcher said.

But, the company continued to charge him $39.99 a month.

Experts with Springboard a non-profit credit management company said that’s more than you need to pay.

“You don’t need to spend any money when you’re looking at your credit score there’s plenty of places that offer that service for free,” said Senior Vice President Melinda Opperman

Every consumer can get one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Transunion, and Experian.

Opperman suggests using either creditkarma.com, quizzle.com or creditsesame.com.

“You can regularly check on those websites and there’s no requirement that you need to give your credit card number where you need to be concerned they’re going to charge it later. There’s no subscription requirement, they do have some ads but they are truly free,” Opperman said.

If you need to repair your credit, experts said the best person to fix your credit score is you.

“We’ve had so many consumers call us here at Springboard saying they have spent hundreds of dollars with an entity to try and repair their credit and we advocate that consumers save that money and put it on deposit with their own credit union. And that secured credit card, if they use it responsibly, is going to build their credit right back up,” Opperman said.

To save you from getting scammed, make sure the website you use is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.

“Your credit score is your financial DNA and you want to make sure that your score is the best one you can have,” Opperman said.

Even if you know you have good credit, it’s good to get into the habit of checking your credit score once a year for suspicious activities or any inaccuracies.