Sunday, December 19, 2010

Check your credit report


In this series of articles we are talking about debts, what happens to people who don’t pay debts, how to manage situation if you have debts and how to avoid debts. I want to discuss consequences of your debts. Do you know that if you have different types of debts, or you had them before, they don’t disappear anywhere? And even if you paid them off and made it on time or missed terms, all these information will be shown in your credit report and will have influence on your credit rating.

Credit rating is very important thing if you are going to apply for mortgage, loan, home loan, car loan or just take a credit. Your credit rating depends on your credit score. The higher your credit score is, the lower interests you will pay and more chances you will have to be approved for credit.

But, let’s go back to credit rating. It is very important to understand what your credit rating is and how you can improve it. The best way to check it is to order credit report.

How credit report works

If you want to understand what role credit report plays in your life you should think about it like a sort of financial report card. This information determines not only whether you will be approved by lenders but also how much will you pay and interest for the privilege of borrowing money. The information in your credit report determines your credit score. Your credit score can cost you saving a lot of money over your lifetime.

Where your credit report comes from

If you need to get your credit report, you need credit bureaus which maintain your credit history. They relish your credit report when you request it. Your credit report may need organizations which are reviewing your applications for credit.

There are three the most popular credit bureaus in the United States and sometimes they are called credit reporting agencies. These bureaus are Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Each of these credit bureaus has massive credit files on consumers. You should understand that credit bureaus don’t generate information for your credit reports. They just report information which was transmitted to them. All information is stores in huge databases.

Services of these companies usually have similar cost. For example Equifax takes $14.95 per month for Equifax Complete report. It contains reports from all three credit agencies, convenient tools to understand, protect, and track your credit and scores. With Score Estimator you can simulate what will happen when you will make changes. You will have access to information how lenders may evaluate a risk of giving you a credit. Additional protection THROUGH Automatic Fraud Alert. And 24/7 access to excellent customer service.

The information in your report is represented to the bureaus by:

Correctness of information

The most of the information in your file will be correct but in some instances your credit report may contain inaccurateness and negative information that can lower your credit score and cost you money. That’s why it is so important to check for consumers their reports on a regular basis to make sure that they are accurate.

If you discover information in your credit report that you believe to be incorrect, you have the right according to the law to dispute this question with credit bureau. In this case bureau will make the investigation under this question within 30 days. And they have to verify or remove this information from your credit files. All three credit bureaus now allow consumers to file online disputes.

Information contained in your credit report

It is very important to know what you are looking for when you check your credit report.

Personal information

The first category is your personal information. It includes your name, address current and previous, date of birth, social security number and current and previous employer. You should make sure that all of this information is correct. Check carefully for any similar names or incorrect, also check address changes. If there are any mistakes I can be sign that someone tried to change your contact information to make fraudulent charges.

Credit history

The next category is your credit history. It includes your payment history for all your accounts such as your auto loans, home loans, credit cards, finance companies. This section also contains information about your balances, amount of credit available, and your actual payment status on your accounts. When checking your credit list, make sure that all accounts listed are truly yours, your account information and payment status on each of your accounts are correct.

Public records

The next category is public records. This is your public records on file which will indicate your tax liens, court judgments, bankruptcies and etc. Check this section in your report carefully. Public records will remain in your files from seven to ten years.

Credit statement

Following category is your credit enquiries. This section includes everyone who requested a copy of your credit report during the past two years. You should make sure that all requires are familiar to you. As an unauthorized enquiry to your credit report could be a sign that someone has tried to open a credit card account using your name. it is also important to know that when you check your own credit it is known as a soft enquiry and will not create an enquiry in your credit files that counts against your credit score.

Dispute statement

Finally, your credit report may contain your dispute statements. These are statements of explanation that you are allowed to place in your credit files. Over all it is important to you as a consumer to take charge of your personal credit.

And remember the only person who can check and make sure that the information in your credit report is accurate is you. So know your credit, manage it and protect it. Because it can be a key part of your financial future.

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