Free Credit Bureau Report

Zach Ford asked:




More than one million American citizens for good reasons check their credit through the internet every year. In order to maintain a healthy financial history it is important to be informed about your credit score. There are things that are considered when determining your credit rating and sometimes there are errors may occur in the process which is not your fault. Monitoring the credit rating will help you to detect faults and find out what could be wrong. Therefore be part of the million using this service by requesting for free credit report today.

Credit score digits are written in three digit number that range between 300 and 850. This is determined by your past and present financial activities. These activities are always recorded and stored in a credit report. 700 is a good rating and you should make it your target if you have not yet reached it. Reports have details of your payments of bills, credit card balances, and unpaid debt among other factors used for calculating your rating. One of the important factors is whether you make your debt repayments on time or not. You should therefore ensure you repay your debts.

Many people do not know that there are in fact three types of credit scores. existence of these three credit scores. These are maintained by three different credit reporting companies. There is TransUnion, Experian and Equifax which are the largest credit agencies in the United States. They calculate credit score differently. TransUnion uses FICO score, Experian uses PLUS score system and Equifax uses ScorePower score. Choose the one that uses the three scores. This will give you accurate information of your credit position.

Having information about your credit score you will know the type of loans you can apply for and the interest you are likely to be charged. You will also know the ares in your finances that need to be worked on. This is an important step in repairing your credit. You can save thousands of dollars when you have high credit ratings by getting low interest rates on loans each year. You should make an effort of getting a copy of your score and report. This is very important and useful for you.

Joyce

Nitin Saini asked:




Credit report should be checked on a yearly basis. It becomes absolutely necessary to keep a check on your credit reports if your ever aced some discrepancy in your reports. Most common problem that people usually face is identity thefts. While ordering your credit bureau data always ensure that you get three copies each from TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.

The main reason for getting separate copies is that each agency gives a different report. Every creditor has their way of reporting. This means that some creditors report to just one agency where as some report to two agencies. There are also creditors who report to all three agencies depending on the loan type. Your loan history is especially shared to all three agencies when you have taken loans such as a mortgage.

In U.S., the process of keeping records of all the credit history is done for every individual. They keep record of every account you had for 5 to 10 years, loans which you have taken and also the ones that you have paid off. The history of the records helps them to produce their credit bureau data.

All three agencies keep your credit records. This means that there is every possibility of the report having errors. There have been serious discrepancies in people’s records, thus it is not just a possibility, but more of a reality.

The first question that comes up in your mind would be what would happen when you get a faulty report? It results in you FICO score or credit score being calculated at much lower than it actually is. The next question that would arise in your mind would be what effect does a faulty credit bureau data have on you? Well, your lowered credit score is making you pay extra money! You may be paying a 7% on your mortgage instead of 6%. Instead of paying a 2.9% on your car loan, which a qualified buyer pays, you might end up paying 8%. Your lowered credit score does not make you counted as a qualified buyer. These are just a few ways that make you shell out extra money.

There is no mechanism available to the credit bureaus which would automatically correct those errors. The credit bureau does not take any responsibility on their lax of reporting, as they believe it is only reporting that they are doing and they are not the ones generating it.

After checking out the view point of the credit bureau, you should take up the responsibility. You may be just a consumer or a business owner, whatever is that you do get a regular copy of you credit bureau data. Check the data minutely for any kind of discrepancy. Once you find any faulty reporting, approach the bureau directly. This should help you in getting an error-free report.

When you are checking on the reports, do not rush through it, as now you know how it could affect your credit scores. Cross check the data because error-free report will result in a higher credit score. With a higher credit score, you would not be shelling out anything extra from your pocket.

Patricia

Duwayne Mcclendon asked:




When you are repairing you want to make sure all information is correct and there are no duplicate items on your credit report. I had noticed an old HSBC Tax Advance showing on my report twice, one was listed as being current with a $0 balance and the other had a balance of $441 and 120 days late! I had seen this on my report and at first was just going to wait it out until the 120 day late listing was updated to current with hopes my score would be higher with two accounts listed as current.

Today my patience got the best of me, I called Transunion which was the listing agency for the duplicate accounts and requested a deletion. At first the operator said “ok sir I will place the duplicate account for dispute,” I immediately told him I did not want to place a dispute but for him to delete the duplicate listing now. It was in my favor that both accounts had the same account number and that the 120 day listing was updated 11/2007 and the current listing was showing updated 12/2007.

After about 5 minutes the representative for Transunion confirmed the duplicate listing had been removed and if I needed any more assistance. I kindly thanked the representative of Transunion and proceeded to complete my daily credit pull from TrueCredit. WOO HOO! Account deleted and my score jumped 14 points!

When you are repairing your credit be persistent and make sure you have all your facts regarding the accounts when you call or write any of the three credit bureau (Equifax, Experian, Transunion). You have to legitimately prove the account is reporting improperly for the credit bureau to remove the listing for them to remove it.

Virginia

Jesse B. Smith asked:




This is a frequently asked question. With tough times upon us, more and more people are finding it difficult to get their bills paid on time. This, in turn, means that these same people are reported to the credit reporting agencies as late and the late payment is reported to lenders who request your credit report.

A “late payment” as the term implies is any payment on a credit associated account which is received by the creditor after the due date. The only thing that matters is that the payment was late. It does not matter if the payment was one day late or thirty days late, it is still considered late. Additionally, you will be charged a late payment penalty on any payment made after the due date and these are normally pretty stiff penalties.

To remove overdue payments from your credit report, you will need to obtain a copy of your credit report. You can do this by contacting one of the three credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. These companies are legally required to provide you with one copy of your credit report every twelve months.

Though the credit reports may vary slightly in their layout, they all contain the same types of information. You should be able to easily and quickly ascertain how each credit report lists entries showing overdue payments and should report the number of late payments you have made over a given period of years.

Though, consumers understand that making payments late is not a good thing, they normally don’t understand the far-reaching consequences. Payment punctuality can count for over 30% of your total credit score. Because of this, late payments can severely affect credit applications which you submit to a lender.

The first thing you can try in order to remove late payments from your credit report is to contact the creditor directly and ask that it remove the overdue payments. This is often successful, however, if you habitually make late payments, it may be less likely.

If contacting the creditor is unsuccessful, you should write the credit reporting bureau that reports the overdue payment and request that the late notation be removed. You should include documentation which proves your claim and be sure to retain copies of all correspondence to and from the credit bureau. If the credit bureau cannot verify within 30 days that the payment was late, it must remove the entry.

Of course, it is always easier to try to stop the situation from occurring in the first place. If you know you will be late paying a bill, contact the creditor and explain the situation to them. Many times creditors will work with you to agree on a payment plan.

Any legitimate late payment entry can remain on your credit report for up to seven years. Instead of letting this cause havoc with your credit score, work with your creditors to keep the late payment from showing up on your credit report.

Joann

Reality Check asked:


I am in the process of repairing my credit. I already have the most up-to-date credit reports from the 3 major bureaus which I got for free from http://www.annualcreditreport.com

While repairing my credit, having debts deleted or paid off, etc…I want to be able to see the changes happening. I can only order my credit reports for free once per year…so cannot check to make sure that collectors are erasing the debts as being requested in negotiations. I was wondering if anyone uses a “realtime” credit monitoring service (preferably that is updated daily, or everytime a change is made to the report), so that I can validate my requests are happening.

I’m not so much concerned about the scoring…but if it’s included, then I suppose that’s a bonus. Any suggestions? Is there a way to request my FREE credit report more than once per year (e.g. tell the CRA’s that I am repairing credit, and need a fresh copy, etc) without having to pay each time?
Micki…you did not read my question at all. I am talking about online monitoring services, not a debt consolidator or debt management service. I am doing the work myself.
Sgt Big Red, thanks for the response. Are you referring to “they” as the CRA’s (Equifax, Experian, TU)? “They” make changes all the time to reports, without sending you an updated report, thus why you have to request it. Otherwise, every time someone inquires into my credit file, or reports me (adversely or positively), I would get a new credit report in the mail. I’m not so sure who you’re referring to…

If you mean the collection agency will send me an updated report, I wouldn’t count on that either…they just want their money to settle the debt, not send me an updated report.

Ron