Online credit report and credit monitoring to prevent identity theft.
Get an online credit report copy to check for errors, dispute incorrect or outdated entries and consider a credit monitoring service to prevent identity theft.
Why check
your credit report...
Monitor
changes and potential identity fraud. Dispute inaccuracies or entries that are beyond the statute
of limitations. Check your credit report regularly to fix errors and to catch ID fraud early.
Are
late payments piling up on your credit report?
There
are many options to deal with debt. First make sure the debts belong to
you and are not errors. Fix errors and; for debts that are yours, consider
options such as lower monthly payments.
Does your mailbox have a padlock? Do you shred all letters before you toss them into the trash? Most people don't, and identity thieves take advantage of this. A thief could snatch mail from your box or sift through your trash to get all the information necessary to steal your identity.
Have you been rejected for credit or been given credit but at a higher interest rate? A credit reporting agency or other source could have placed errors on your credit report. Or perhaps someone stole your identity.
How soon will you find out
about ID theft without a credit report?
It's one thing to have bad credit, but it is another to have errors on your credit report through no fault of your own. The result, however, is the same-- unless you correct it.
Did you know that you pay a higher interest rate on you car and mortgage with questionable credit? Were you aware that insurance companies can turn you down or put you in a higher risk category with higher premiums if they consider you a bad credit risk? Consider this: More employers now run credit checks for potential job selection and/or promotions than ever before in our history. Can you really afford to loose your next promotion because of a credit report error?
Retailers, department stores, credit card companies.
Auto dealers, mortgagers.
Investigators, lawyers, courts.
Anyone who can offer just cause and/or has access as a member of a credit report agency.
Common credit report myths
Paying off debts immediately makes a bad credit report become good. Truth: A credit report is a history of your payments, not just a snapshot of the present.
No one can see your credit report without your permission. Truth: Unless it's for employment purposes, your signature or consent is not required for someone to view your report.
Credit counseling always damages a credit score. Truth: Attending a credit counselor's debt management program is not considered negative in the scoring models.
Canceling credit cards boosts credit report scores. Truth: Open accounts indicate available, potential debt. Most creditors want to see at least two or three pieces of active credit to prove you can responsibly manage debt.
Too many inquiries harm credit report scores. Truth: Credit reporting agencies can detect shopping for a loan or card, and won't penalize you for this.
Checking your own credit report harms the score. Truth: Ordering your own credit report does not harm your score.
FICO scores are locked in for six months. Truth: Fair Isaac and Company's models are dynamic, meaning they change as soon as data on the credit report changes.
You don't need to check your credit report if you pay bills on time. Truth: When the Consumer Federation of America and the National Credit Reporting Association analyzed credit scores in the summer of 2002, they discovered that 78 percent of the files were missing a revolving account in good standing, while 33 percent of files lacked a mortgage account that had never been late. Twenty-nine percent contained conflicting information on how many times the consumer had been 60 days late on payments.
All credit reports are the same. Truth: Wrong. These days most creditors across the country do report their information to all three major agencies: TransUnion, Equifax and
Experian.
A divorce decree automatically severs joint accounts. Truth: A divorce decree may divide credit card, auto and house payments, but it doesn't re-write the original credit terms.
Bad news comes off in seven years. Truth: Some of it does. Chapter 13 (reorganization of debt) disappears seven years from the filing date. But if you filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy (exoneration of all debt), the window is 10 years from the filing date.
Incorrect information on credit reports is common. Credit reports have become very important, and it is necessary to check them at least three times a year.
Anytime you find a mistake, contact the credit bureau first. Instead of using the online form, send a letter with your name and address along with
information about items that are not correct and why they are wrong. Ask that the information either gets deleted or corrected.
Along with your letter, send any copies that can prove why the information is not correct along with a copy of your credit report. Identify the incorrect items
by marking with a highlighter. keep documentation of all written correspondence and any dates, times, and persons you talked to on the phone about the
problem.
It can help if you contact the creditor who gave the wrong information and send them proof as well as a letter. Let them know you have sent information to
the credit bureau about the dispute. The creditor should notify the major credit bureaus about making the corrections. Ask that any information that cannot
be verified to be deleted from your file. It can take months to get mistakes fixed on credit reports but it is worth the effort. Monitor reports to make sure all
mistakes get fixed.
Improve
Credit Tips
It is important to know all information about your credit and whether it is good or bad. Credit must be monitored for incorrect information that can
contribute to having bad credit. For example, if there is documentation about bankruptcy or constant late payments, make sure it is your information and
does not belong to a stranger. It is not uncommon to have a stranger's information on a credit report.
Anytime your credit reflects late payments, set a goal to never be late with any payments. Try paying them in advance to prevent late payments. Consider
setting up automatic payments from a checking account but make sure to have the money in the account avoid overdraft
fees too. Overdraft fees do not look good to a loan officer at a bank if you ever ask them for a loan.
Learn about how credit scores are determined and get some facts on all the ways scores are affected. Knowing that late payments, bankruptcy, debt
collections, and other things greatly lower scores can help when setting a goal to rebuild bad credit. Find out how much you are in debt. The amount you
owe should be less than your total available credit.
Applying for too much credit
often can have a negative effect on credit. The types of loans are important, for example, if you have too many credit cards
with over the limit balances or too many loans from finance companies, it can lower credit scores. It is not impossible to rebuild
bad credit using a credit professional or by doing-it-yourself. The first step to rebuild bad credit is to start paying down debts and
always pay bills on time.
Auto Loan: Get free quotes and apply for a new or used auto loan or for auto refinancing.
Credit Card: Search for secured and unsecured credit card applications and apply online. Applications for all types of cards ranging from an instant approval bad credit card to no deposit cards, including platinum credit card rewards.
Credit Report: Free credit report help to fix credit report errors and improve credit score ratings. You are entitled to one free credit report annually.
Debt Counseling: Get your expenses under control with credit counseling, an unsecured debt consolidation loan, debt management or negotiate debt settlement.
Free Credit Offers: Get no obligation, free credit offers plus financial tips to help effectively manage your personal finances.
Home Loan: Free multiple quotes from mortgage lenders. Apply for a new home loan and start building your financial security.
Mortgage Refinancing: 2nd mortgage loan and other types of mortgage refinancing for home remodeling, equity cash out or a debt consolidation loan and more.
Payday Loan: Easy approval bad credit unsecured loan with no credit check, no deposit and no security.
Personal Loan: Submit a short or long term personal loan application (if available), or apply for other secured or unsecured loan offers.
Personal Finance: How to file bankruptcy plus free bankruptcy forms. Create a household personal budget, balance a checkbook register, track expenses and more.
Establish or rebuild bad credit:
Although credit options are limited and more restrictive, there are still ways to establish and rebuild bad credit, including: