Credit Report Basics
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
CreditScoreAide .com asked:
You may not realize just how easy it is to get your credit report, especially when you see all these companies online wanting to charge you for them. However, the good news is that you can receive your credit report free of charge. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, entitles everyone to a free credit report. The only thing you have to do is contact each major credit bureau and ask for a copy.Now that you have your credit report, you can look for discrepancies. However, what do you do if you find one? First, you can ask that they be removed from your credit report.
You will have to contact the credit bureau that has listed the error and request for an investigation. If this does not get them to remove the error, you can then write a 100-word statement explaining the error, which will mainly, be your side of what happened. Your statement will then be attached to your credit report. In some cases, if you can prove that the error is false, it can be removed from your credit report.
You can now also see which creditors have listed problems with you paying your debts. If you find that you still owe these creditors, you can contact them and start repaying the debt. Once you begin paying the debt, the creditor will start reporting your payment actions once again and this can improve the bad credit rating that was once there for this creditor. If you also notice that creditors that you are in good standing with have not reported your good account information you can give this information to the credit bureaus with the name and telephone number of the creditors. When these items are verified and placed on your credit report it will begin to start showing up as good credit.
Remember, a bad credit history does not just disappear. Bad credit should fall off your report in seven years, however, if the creditor files another claim prior to this it will still be on your credit report. A matter of fact, bad debt as far back as 14 years can still be on your report while good credit does not last that long.
Understanding all you can about your credit report and how to correct errors, rid yourself of bad credit while building up good credit will be your saving factor when you are ready to purchase a home or apply for a bank loan.
Along with this information, you should also realize that you could request a free credit report so you will always know what is going on with your credit. Identity theft and even false reports can destroy your good credit in a short amount of time.
Veronica
You may not realize just how easy it is to get your credit report, especially when you see all these companies online wanting to charge you for them. However, the good news is that you can receive your credit report free of charge. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, entitles everyone to a free credit report. The only thing you have to do is contact each major credit bureau and ask for a copy.Now that you have your credit report, you can look for discrepancies. However, what do you do if you find one? First, you can ask that they be removed from your credit report.
You will have to contact the credit bureau that has listed the error and request for an investigation. If this does not get them to remove the error, you can then write a 100-word statement explaining the error, which will mainly, be your side of what happened. Your statement will then be attached to your credit report. In some cases, if you can prove that the error is false, it can be removed from your credit report.
You can now also see which creditors have listed problems with you paying your debts. If you find that you still owe these creditors, you can contact them and start repaying the debt. Once you begin paying the debt, the creditor will start reporting your payment actions once again and this can improve the bad credit rating that was once there for this creditor. If you also notice that creditors that you are in good standing with have not reported your good account information you can give this information to the credit bureaus with the name and telephone number of the creditors. When these items are verified and placed on your credit report it will begin to start showing up as good credit.
Remember, a bad credit history does not just disappear. Bad credit should fall off your report in seven years, however, if the creditor files another claim prior to this it will still be on your credit report. A matter of fact, bad debt as far back as 14 years can still be on your report while good credit does not last that long.
Understanding all you can about your credit report and how to correct errors, rid yourself of bad credit while building up good credit will be your saving factor when you are ready to purchase a home or apply for a bank loan.
Along with this information, you should also realize that you could request a free credit report so you will always know what is going on with your credit. Identity theft and even false reports can destroy your good credit in a short amount of time.
Veronica