Free Credit Bureau Report

Jenny R Smith asked:




Information obtained from your credit report enables creditors to gauge the risk factor in lending money to you. Credit report usually provides information on your identity and on how regularly you pay your bills. Credit report is used as the deciding factor by creditors when you apply for credit facility.

Thus, it is vital that you maintain a good credit report consciously. Incorrect information on your report could be damaging in the long term and will affect your buying power drastically. It is therefore necessary to monitor and make sure your information with the credit reporting agencies is updated and accurate.

In case of any discrepancies in your information or rating, you can dispute the credit report information with the help of the Fair Credit Reporting Act or the FCRA.

Review Your Credit Report
The first step in verifying your credit report is to obtain a copy of one. According to Federal law, you are eligible to one copy of credit report from each of the agencies annually. After obtaining your credit report, go through it thoroughly to ensure that the information reported is correct or not. In case of incorrect information, you can dispute the same with the help of the Fair Credit Reporting Act or the FCRA.

File A Credit Report Dispute
Upon finding incorrect information in your credit report the first step should be to alert the credit bureau and the source of your information in writing. Doing this puts you on the path to dispute the wrong information.

The next step involves attaching proof supporting your claim. This includes statements or checks which have been canceled. Along with this it is a good idea to include your personal details like name, current postal address, and information on dispute and explanation on why the information is incorrect. To provide a clear picture, you could include a copy of the credit report highlighting the disputed information.

These documents have to be then dispatched through certified mail requesting for a return receipt. This will make sure you have proof your mail has been received by the credit bureau. It is very important to keep a copy of all the documents you send them.

The Credit Bureau Responds To Your Dispute
The credit bureau usually takes about thirty days to respond to your claim after checking all the necessary information and facts. Credit bureau sends the disputed facts to the information provider which in turn investigates the same and reports back to the bureau.

Upon completion of the investigation, the credit bureau provides you with the results. In case the dispute has been accepted and facts altered, the bureau provides you with a free copy of the changed report. Credit bureau can also be requested to send the correction to any other company which may have accessed your credit report in the past six months.

After all this, it is a good idea to check the other credit bureaus as well and set right the information.

Jeremy

William S Bailey asked:




While it is possible living without a good credit score, it will certainly make your life much harder. All of us need it in order to buy or rent a home, car, have a credit card etc.

Credit bureaus hold the keys of our credit score. There are only a few credit bureaus in the US and through them all our reports are processed. They handle all the information that any of your creditors submits to them and by using this information your credit report is created.

In case that your credit history is not so good, you will have to start with a credit repair. To do this you are going to have to study how to interact and deal with credit bureaus.

1. First thing that you need to do is to find out exactly which credit bureau contains your file. It is very simple, just take a look at one of the rejection letters that you have received when you applied for credit. In the letter besides other information will be stated which bureau provided has provided your credit report.

2. For the next step you are going to need to get your credit report. It is free to obtain it once per year or every time your credit application has been denied. Be aware that sometimes credit companies can imply that you should always pay for a credit report, but in fact you have to pay for it only in case that you want it right away.

Credit bureaus are basically information collectors and sellers. Because of that you should never provide them with any information that you are not legally obliged to do. And by the law the only info you need to provide is: name, legal address and your social security number.

In some cases bureaus will request of you to provide a social security card copy and a copy of a document that proves your current address, this will happen only in case that your address is different from the one they have on your file.

Sometimes they can also ask you for a copy of your drivers license as proof of your address, just send them a copy of some bill with your address on it. Credit bureaus are the owners of numerous collection agencies, and in case that you have credit problems you should provide them with the smallest amount of info you legally can. Otherwise they can use it to harass you with it.

3. When you get it, check it out carefully for any mistakes. If there are some mistakes in your report, send a letter to the credit bureau in which you request that those mistakes be removed from your report.

Credit bureaus are obligated by law to prove that any item on your report is correct, if they can not do that within 30 days limit, then they must remove it. This is, in most cases, the thing that many credit repair companies will do for you and they are going to charge you dearly for it.

Many times negative items are several years old and hard to verify so they have to be removed from your credit report. You should know that you can save a lot of money if you decide to go through this process alone.

You will need a lot of patience, time and willingness to learn but it can be done. Besides you are going to learn a lot about finances in the process and it can be of great help to you in the future.

Vera

Ann Richter asked:




You are pretty angry. You ordered a copy of your credit report to check out all the information , and lo and behold, you have found several glaring errors that you are chomping at the bit to have corrected. Your first reaction is to pick up the telephone, call up the credit bureau, and give them a piece of your mind, but then the rational side of you takes over, and you realize that it would probably be better to calm down, sit down, and write a credit report dispute letter to attempt to set things straight.

Planning Ahead Pays Off

First of all, plan what you want to say in this letter. You should re-read your credit report, and take careful notes. Ask yourself if there is any way that what the credit bureau is claiming in your report could be true. For example, if one of the errors that is shown is a late payment on one of your credit card accounts, look over your bank statements and/or cancelled check for that month. (You DO keep these important papers, right?) If you do indeed find proof of the payment, then you have the ammunition you need to politely go after the credit bureau and get them to change the information they have about you on file.

Word your letter thoughtfully, and be cordial. You will need to send a copy of your letter to each of the three “big” credit bureaus – TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Calmly state the facts in a way similar to the example below -

Dear (Credit Bureau Name Here)

I recently requested a copy of my credit file so that I could check it out for any erroneous information. Much to my surprise, I found a glaring error which I dispute and that I would like to request correction for. You have not credited me for my (Month and Date Here) payment to (Name of Business Here). This is a definite mistake, as I am in possession of the cancelled check for this payment, which I am enclosing a photocopy of.

Hopefully, this was simply an oversight on your part. I am sure that you realize that the omission of this information could have serious repercussions to the accuracy of my credit file. There is a law in this country which states that credit bureaus can only use accurate information in a consumer’s credit file. Obviously, in my own credit file, the law has been broken.

I am sure that you will be more than happy to take care of this matter for me, and correct my file to reflect this payment.

Cordially,

(Your Name Here)

Along with each letter you send out, include your full name as listed in your credit report, your address, your driver’s license, your Social Security number, a copy of the credit report where the erroneous information was located, and a copy of your roof, such as the cancelled check.

Keep a copy of everything you send, and note the date you mail it. It’s a good idea to use certified or registered mail for an “official” proof of mailing date. You will need this just in case you need to send out again to someone higher on the corporate ladder of the credit bureau.

Jerome

guardrailjim asked:


I read this on “About.com”

After receiving your dispute, the collection agency must send you proof that it owns or has been assigned the debt by the original creditor. Verification that you owe the debt and the amount of the debt needs to include documentation from original creditor (however, it is the debt collector who sends it to you). It is not enough for the collection agency to simply send you a printout of the amount owed.

If the debt collector “does not verify the debt within 30 days”, it is not allowed to continue collecting the debt from you nor can it list the debt on your credit report. Should the debt collector list the debt on your credit report, you can dispute the debt with the credit bureau. Sending the credit bureau a copy of your debt validation letter along with the certified and return receipts will help get the account removed from your credit report.

Luis

VBPRODIGYest.89 asked:


my bank of america credit crd debt was sent to the er solutions collection agency and the bank of america Representative gave me the number to call the agancy. i called, we agreed by phone to a settlement of $587(on a $820 balance). i paid the settlment directly to the bank of america branch. i called back the collectiion agency and gave the representative the transaction number on my reciept. she said everything was fine now . she also told em to go to free credit report.com and get specifically a experian credit report ,which i did and then she asked for my address to which she would send a letter to me .. that i would have to send to the credit bureau.i dont quite remeber what it was for. it hasnt been sent .. and ive called back 3 times n the same lady always says im so sry and ask to verify my adress and she will send another one.i paid the settlement on april 15th it is now june. i dont kno what to do ? any ideas or advice? im pretty sure im being scammed but i dont know how to fix it. i stil have the reciept from bank of america as proof that i gave them the settlement. i dont kno if that will help me though
thanks mar c .i will defintely call BOA tonight..but.. im still scared that maybe BOA doesnt know of the settlment amount.what if they dont know and they dont know it was for my account. because it was charged off(as stated inmy credit report)..What if they still want me to pay the balance? how will i kno? i havent recived any BOA statements. i just want to be sure everything is fine….And should i be concerned about not recieving that letter from ER solutions?

Terri