Andrew Mason asked:


Obtaining a free copy of your credit report is very important if you believe that there might be some misinformation no there, or if you are going to be working with a financial institution anytime soon.

Obviously, the better your credit score is, the lower interest rate you will be paying, and vise versa. Therefore, knowing this info is crucial.

Keep in mind that a free instant copy of your credit report is only available via the net, and in fact you can’t get a hard copy even if you wanted one (although there is really no reason to).

If you do want a regular copy of your credit report, you will usually have to wait around fifteen days to receive it, sometimes more and sometimes less. However, it is not always free, as you will soon find out, depending on what kind you want.

First of all, your annual report is a track record of your payments in the past year, and everybody in the US is entitled to get one of these per year from any of the three major credit report firms around the country.

However, in order to get this, you will need a lot of personal information to prove that you are indeed who you claim, or else you won’t get a totally free credit report. This shouldn’t be hard, but is a necessary pat of the process you should keep in mind, so be sure you have the information needed on hand.

Getting a free copy of your credit report once a year is generally enough for the majority of people, as you won’t have occasion to need it any more under ordinary circumstances.

Be sure, however, that you review it thoroughly when you do, because it’s likely you won’t look at it for another year, so pour over the transactions you’ve made over the past year, and be sure that they are all correct.

If any of them have you being late on a payment you know you made on time, dispute it with the credit repot company. When you do this, they will simply contact the company in question that you had the transaction with, and assuming you are in the right, they will confirm your point of view, and it will be removed from your record.

Therefore, get a free copy of your credit report online, review it carefully, and the next time you wan to do business with a financial institution, and you will be able to obtain a great interest rate.



Harold

Chane Steiner asked:


Credit report repair is commonly referred to as the process of disputing negative items in a credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumers have the right to request an investigation with the credit bureaus for any item on their credit report. The credit bureaus and the original furnisher of the information must investigate the claim within 30 days and report their results back to consumers.

It’s important to point out that the credit bureaus are for-profit organizations and possess no government affiliation. They profit off the sale of your private information and from selling your information to you. Only after the Federal Trade Commission came up with a set of regulations passed in 2003 were consumers able to receive one free credit report a year.

The FCRA also had to regulate how long negative information, such as late payments, bankruptcies, tax liens or judgments may stay on a consumer’s credit report. It’s typically seven years from the date of the delinquency. The exceptions: bankruptcies (10 years) and tax liens (seven years from the time they are paid). Unpaid tax liens can remain for up to 15 years. Although, 7 to 10 years is a long time to stay on a report, the credit bureaus would report it for much longer, if not forever, if it weren’t for the FTC stepping in.

When a consumer makes a dispute with the credit bureaus, the credit bureaus do not interact with information providers (typically creditors) directly. They use a system called E-Oscar. E-Oscar is an automated consumer dispute verification process. The credit bureaus demand that everyone who provides information to them be on this system. If you don’t get on the system, you CAN NOT provide information to a credit bureau.

The E-Oscar system allows credit grantors to resolve disputes in a timely manner; however the results are commonly inaccurate. In fact, a study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found that 79% of all credit reports contained errors. With E-Oscar the credit bureaus NEVER send the original creditor the information you provide them. Instead, an employee scans your letter along with hundreds of others.

The employee is given a very short amount of time to figure out what you are trying to dispute and then gives your dispute a code. It is then verified with E-Oscar. Any documentation that you sent which proves the information is erroneous or any information that you provided simply gets filed away, incase you should sue them. It’s rarely ever even looked at.

Under § 602 of the Act, (15 U.S.C. § 1681), a consumer may seek a maximum of $1000 in statutory damages, plus actual damages, punitive damages and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for willful noncompliance with the FCRA. Any consumer may file suit in state or federal court to enforce the FCRA. Consumer lawsuits against credit bureaus are becoming more and more common and most of the time the consumer wins. Unfortunately, a lawsuit is what it takes to get issues solved with the credit bureaus.



Paula

Tipsy asked:


I know a good site which gives all the tips. www.convertmill.com It has links to official site which gives free credit report from all the three credit bureaus once annually. Is there any other good site

Rafael

ohio_cincin asked:


credit scores or reports say free but the trial needs credit card info , is there one online that dosent?

Bradley

Paul Hata asked:


Want to know your financial creditworthiness? Have a credit check and determine your personal credit score.Credit check is usually done to verify whether you are eligible for a loan or on any other forms of credit based on your past credit performances.

This will reveal your past as well as your previous credit transactions with different lenders and how you deal with it. Thus, a credit check is the reflection of your past credit performance. It works like a report card, which reveals whether you have pass or fail in a particular subject.

Credit checks are done by lending institutions such as credit card companies and banks on individuals who wish to apply for a loan or any form of credit. In addition, credit checks could also be done by a homeowner whether an individual would be a good tenant or not, as reflected by his or her past credit performance. Insurance firms also run credit checks on individuals who wish to avail of their insurance policies.

You can obtain your credit report containing credit-related information from any of the three major credit-reporting agencies. Furthermore, you can obtain your personal credit reports for free as stated in the FCRA or the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under this Act, every individual is entitled to receive a free credit report from any of the three major credit-reporting companies in the United States once a year - Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union.

Your free credit report contain your personal information (such as your name and address), how you paid your past and previous bills, and any delinquencies you have committed such as late payments as well as if you have filed for bankruptcy.

To obtain your free credit report, you need to fill up the required form through a centralized credit report website on any of the three major credit bureaus in the United States. You will be required to provide some basic information, which includes your name, permanent address, your social security number, and your birth date.

Your credit report is important in securing yourself against any attempts of identity theft such as credit cards misuse and other forms of fraud. In addition, you must update your credit report regularly as lending institutions would be using such reports to determine if you are worthy enough to be awarded with the loan you have applied for.

After you received your free credit report, you should read each section carefully. All aspects must be included in computing your credit score. So make sure you have paid attention to all of them. Check your report for any discrepancies and make sure that you have not missed any payments at all. Your credit report also comes with the list of individuals or business entities that you have requested credit information from. You may also check to see if such names or entities are familiar with you.

Your free credit report would be used in running a credit check to you when applying for a loan or any other forms of credit. Thus, make sure that it is free of discrepancies or erroneous entries. Keep in mind that this report will reflect your credit performance - ensure that you do not stumble anywhere so that your loan application would always be a success.



Jacob

Ð. Flø§§… asked:


each time I try to go to a website that claims to give you a free credit report, you need credit card information….but I don’t have a credit or a debit card! Are there any websites you guys know of that truly give you a free credit report????? I guess if you know of one u win the 10pts?

Tim

cynthiastewart asked:


1. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. These three credit bureaus are responsible for reporting your credit scores to banks and other lending institutions. The basic idea behind reporting and tracking your credit history is to get an idea on how prompt and reliable a person is in repaying the loans.

2. The three digit credit score is one of the most important numbers that you will require for getting any loan. A good credit score means low interest rates, better and bigger loans and easy repayment options. On the other hand, low credit score means the opposite.

3. Your credit score is updated regularly. So, don’t even think of missing a payment to the lenders. Default on this front could cause a shift in your credit scores and thereby make the loans dearer. Checking your credit score regularly, guards you against any such unpleasant situations. Credit reporting agencies are bound by law to send you a free credit report every year when you ask for it.

4. Credit reports can be questioned and got corrected if found incorrect. Keeping track of every single financial transaction and repayment detail will help you confront the credit rating agencies, when you find any discrepancy in your credit report. Being proactive in tackling such situations with ample proofs to substantiate your point will keep your credit report clean.

5. Taking secured loans like auto loans, personal loans, mortgages, credit cards, lines of credit and repaying them promptly will keep your credit score healthy. It will enable the lending institutions to have more faith in you and hence give you more loan next time on even better terms.



Claude

Samuel Crow asked:


What is the website address where I can obtain my annual free credit report mandated by law?

Allen

Thomas Boston asked:


Every consumer should want to keep track of their credit score, and the best way to get a full rundown on your credit and your financial standing is to get a copy of your credit report from one of the major three credit services (Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax). Because of a law passed by congress, every single person has a right to one copy of their credit report once a year, and there are states that have passed even more laws giving consumers even more rights. Even beyond the once a year, there are other options.

Some credit card companies offer a monthly service that provides copies of one, or even all three, of your credit reports by adding a small monthly fee that is usually less than $10. If you want to keep a constant track of your credit score, these are a great option and allow you to do business with a company you can trust, and one that has great security. This is often a great option, as the three main companies that keep track of your credit have been known to have different information, meaning different scores. More than one person has been surprised, knowing they had a 720 credit score, only to be denied because a bank used a different company and came up with 550.

This is especially important if you have ever been the victim of identity theft. You could have one report that shows everything fixed, and another that has you as a terrible prospective borrower.

Another way to get your credit score is to request a copy from each company. If you go this route, you will probably ask for your credit score reports only a few times a year, since FICO scores are not free. Each company will charge you a small fee, but as long as you pay that fee they are required by law to send you a copy of your credit report so you can see everything that’s on your record.

Some lenders will have all three of your credit scores, and many times they will throw out the top and bottom, choosing the middle. This still makes it important to make sure your information is correct and up to date on every one of your credit reports. Generally scores run from 300 (beyond terrible) to 850 (incredibly good). Knowing what your credit score is gives you a much better idea of where your credit worthiness is, and what type of terms you can expect from lenders.

These are some of the best options for getting your credit score. Getting your credit report through other companies is generally not recommended. Why give sensitive information like your social security number to a company you don’t know anything about when you can just get this information directly from the credit reporters themselves or your own credit card company? That doesn’t make any sense and there are enough scams out there that the risk just isn’t worth it.

Those are the various options you have for checking, and receiving a copy of, your credit report.



Kathryn

alley_bg asked:


I’d like to check my credit score online for free. Does anyone know a website that does not require a credit card to check it? Thanks!

Travis