Repairing Your Credit « Free Credit Bureau Report

December 17, 2010

Free Annual Credit Report

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Annual Credit Report, Credit Insurance, Equifax, Federal Trade Commission, Free Copies, Maine Massachusetts, Maryland New Jersey, National Credit Bureaus, Pencil, Postal Address, Repairing Your Credit, Toll Free Phone, Toll Free Phone Number, Transunion, Yahoo News — @ 6:12 am

Michael Killian asked:

Would FREE copies your credit report be of interest? If you are committed to repairing your credit or simply want to know what is on your credit report, I have good news for you. A free copy of your credit report is available to every consumer annually. This article discusses the free report as well as repairing your credit report once you have your credit file on hand.

Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont always had a right to one free report per bureau each year. But now this same benefit is available in every state – one FREE credit report from each of the three major national credit bureaus every 12 months.

Additionally, consumers may be entitled to a free report under certain other conditions, such as having been denied credit, insurance or a job within the past 60 days. You’re also entitled to a free report if you think your report is inaccurate due to fraud.

But under the new law, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion have an online site where you can get a free report at Annual Credit Report. There is also a toll-free phone number: 877-322-8228. Finally you can write to P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Yahoo News suggests: “If you do use the postal address, it’s best to print and mail in a completed online request form. You can’t get your report unless you answer questions on the form.” There is also information available through Federal Trade Commission.

Once you have your report, what do you look for?

Here are some basic things you should check on your report. Go through your entire report entry by entry. Have the credit agency legend by your side in order to verify coding compliance. Have also a paper and pencil to annotate any item you find in error. Go slowly!

Don’t assume your personal information is correct. You could be viewing information from someone else’s report with just a simple error such as: first name misspelled, missing Jr./Sr., erroneous address, bad zip code, wrong employer, or any other incorrect personal data.

Insure marital information is correct. Are accounts listed as “joint” really joint?

Is the report in compliance with court settlements? Outdated information is normally considered to be any item older than 7 years except for bankruptcy, which is usually 10 years.

Closed accounts should not be listed as open. Accounts you closed should reflect, “Closed by consumer”. Otherwise it can be assumed that it was closed by the creditor– not good.

Accounts should not appear twice even in different sections.

Incorrect histories such as late payments, a credit entry you do not recognize, a pre-marital debt of your current spouse, or other such items need your attention.

Are there missing reports that would be beneficial to show a good history, and are profiles, credit limits, and balances correct?

A former correction to your credit file that has since disappeared should be brought to the agency’s attention.

You might want to note that each bureau offers credit ID fraud called safeguard services, but for fees. For example TransUnion offers “ID Fraud Watch”. For $10.95 each quarter, you get a credit report every three months and $25,000 of identity theft insurance.

Additionally you can purchase a credit score for a fee by contacting one of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies.

Equifax

Experian

TransUnion

You can also purchase a credit score when you request your free annual credit report through Annual Credit Report

Final Comments: One final point which I am often asked. If a collection company sells your account to another collection agency, can you get the first one get deleted, or will it just show as a zero balance

Reporting depends on who owns the account there are several directions this can take:

If the original creditor still owns the account but assigns the debt to a collection company then both get to report on that account listing.

If the original creditor retracts the collection and re-assigns it to a new collection agency then both original creditor and the 2nd collection agency can report but the first one must remove their listing off of the credit report.

If the original creditor sells the debt to a collection agency then the creditor will report zero balance / sold to another lender, and the collection agency will report.

If that collection agency assigns a debt to another collection agency then it is allowable for both to report the account listing, but if they take back that account then that assigned collection agency must remove their reporting.

Now if that collection agency sells the debt to another collection agency they get to keep their reporting on the report since they owned the account at one time, and the new collection agency picks up on the reporting.

So the difference is if your account is assigned or sold.

Darren

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November 12, 2010

Free 3 Credit Bureau Report – Where to Get Your Free Credit Report and Score

Filed under: Finance — Tags: American Citizens, Ares, Credit Bureau Report, Credit Position, Credit Rating, Credit Reporting Companies, Credit Score, Digit Number, Equifax, Experian, Financial History, Free Credit Report, Important Factors, Repairing Your Credit, Unpaid Debt — @ 2:20 am

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

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August 29, 2010

Disputing Duplicate Items On Your Credit Report

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Credit Equifax, Credit Report, Delete, Equifax, Experian, Hsbc, Patience, Repairing Credit, Repairing Your Credit, Score, Three Credit Bureau, Transunion, Truecredit — @ 3:50 pm

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

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April 3, 2010

How Can I Repair my Credit by Myself?

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Amount Of Money, Bankruptcies, Credit Bureau, Credit Bureaus, Credit Rating, Credit Repair, Credit Reports, Extreme Circumstances, Foreclosures, Lot, Repair My Credit, Repairing Credit, Repairing Your Credit, Repossessions, Simple Steps — @ 5:40 am

Mandy Jacobson asked:

A lot of people usually simply ask, “How can I repair my credit?” You must be one of them. Well, there are a lot of ways to do so, such as hiring a credit repair agency to do the fixing for you, or repairing your own credit by yourself.

Perhaps the right question to ask is, “How can I repair my credit by myself?” You may find yourself in a situation where you need to desperately repair your credit. Even in extreme circumstances, or even in cases where your problems seem to be quite big, don’t be easily pushed into hiring a credit repair agency. Aside from the fact that it’s hard to find a credit repair agency that you can completely trust, hiring one will probably cost you a considerable amount of money. Besides, why do you have to shell out a lot when you can repair your credit by yourself.

How exactly can you repair your credit? Here are the simple steps in repairing your credit by yourself. The first step in repairing your credit is to get your credit reports and review them. It is better to obtain credit reports from more than one credit bureau, and get reports from the bureaus that are well-known and reputable in your country. The difference is that these credit bureaus are most likely the ones from which companies will get your records.

When you are reviewing your records, list all the items that you think will not look well on your records. Aside from simply listing down these items, as you run through them, come up with reasons why you are disputing them. When you dispute these items with the credit bureau, you will need to give a reason why you are doing so. It is also important to rank each item according to their effects on your credit rating. The first item should be the most detrimental to your record. Mostly, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and repossessions, if you have these on your records, should be on top of your “questionable” list.

Once you have identified which items you want to dispute, and why, you can write a dispute letter to the credit bureaus. It is better if you send the letters through registered mail. Before sending, make sure you have your own copy of the letter on file. Collect copies of all documents regarding as you repair your credit, including dates when you performed specific actions. This may come in handy in the future. After sending the dispute letter, wait for feedback. There is no telling how long it will take, but you can be sure that a response will come. Credit bureaus are obligated under the law to conduct an investigation following a request or a dispute.

Once you receive the results, analyze them properly. Go back to your records and check whether you’re all disputes received responses. If not, you can send another dispute and ask for another investigation. You can do so until you are satisfied with your credit rating. Just remember to clearly state that you are going for deletion, not just minor adjustments, of the questionable items.

So, in answer to your question, “How can I repair my credit?”, you can do so by paying someone else to do it, or doing it by yourself. And if your next question is “How can I repair my credit by myself?” well, you just found out how.

Samantha

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January 23, 2010

Repairing Your Credit Score and Clearing Derogatory Marks on Your Credit Report

Filed under: Finance — Tags: Bankruptcy, Car Loan, Credit Bureau, Credit Bureaus, Credit Card Debt, Credit Rating, Credit Score, Home Mortgage, Late Payments, Mentality, Payment Habits, Repairing Credit, Repairing Your Credit, Time Payments, Will Take Some Time — @ 12:27 am

Justin Smith asked:

Raising your credit score can be a fairly simple and straightforward process unless you have derogatory marks that need to be disputed (which will be explained below).

The reasons for bad credit can be as follows, high balances, bankruptcies, late payments, and many others. The most significant thing you can do to raise your score is to change your financial habits. Chances are that if you have a bad credit score, you did something to make it that way. Here are some of the best ways to quickly raise your credit score:

1. The most obvious: pay off your debt! This doesn’t include a home mortgage, but revolving balances such as credit card debt, a car loan, etc.

2. Make every payment on time. This is the most important factor in your credit score rating. If you have had late payments in the past, it will take some time to see real results from your on-time payments, but keep it up, sooner or later the credit bureau will notice the change in your payment habits. Develop the mentality that no late payment is acceptable!

3. If possible, pay over your minimum amount. This is especially important with credit card balances, and will reflect a slight boost in your score.

4. If you have paid off all your debt, and your credit score seems to be at a stand still, you might want to make small purchases each month with your credit card and pay them off immediately. Often times the credit bureaus like to see at least some kind of activity. Otherwise, they have no way to gauge how you are doing financially.

5. Be patient! Sometimes repairing credit can be a long and arduous process. Especially if you have had a bankruptcy. It can often take the better part of a year or more to see any significant raises in your score.

Clearing a derogatory mark on your credit report:

This is probably the most difficult in regards to credit repair. If you have requested a copy of your credit report, and notice a problem (an example would be a late payment mark), that shouldn’t be there, you need to take action to get the derogatory mark cleared as soon as possible. It is extremely important to get your credit score cleared before you attempt to get prequalified for mortgage.

Here are the steps you should take:

First of all, if you are in contact with a loan officer, you may want to describe the problem you are having to them. They can be very helpful when it comes to credit repair, and should know exactly what to do if you have a bad mark on your credit that is a mistake. In some cases, they may even call the creditor for you to address the situation.

Second, you should call your creditor and each credit bureau to find out which course of action you should take. In most cases, writing a letter will do. Here is an example letter:

Date 00/00/00

Dear Big Credit Bureau,

This letter is a complaint that you are reporting inaccurate and/or incomplete credit information on my credit report.
I am displeased that you have included the below information in my credit profile that includes the following errors. Credit reporting laws ensure that bureaus report 100% accurate credit information.

The following information concerning my credit report needs to be re-investigated. I respectfully request to be provided proof of this alleged item on my credit report. If this cannot be provided, the item must be deleted from my report as soon as possible:

CREDITOR AGENCY, acct. 123-34567-ABC

The listed item is inaccurate and/or incomplete, and is a serious error in reporting. Please delete this information, and supply a corrected credit profile to all creditors who have received a copy within the last 6 months, or the last 2 years for employment purposes. Also, please provide the name, address, and telephone number of each credit grantor or other subscriber.

Under federal law, you have 30 days to complete your re- investigation. Be advised that the description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information is hereby requested as well, to be provided within 15 days of the completion of your re-investigation.

Sincerely,

your signature

Your Name

SSN# 123-45-6789

Unfortunately, you will need to write 3 separate letters to each of the 3 major credit bureaus. Here are the contact addresses for each:

Trans Union

P.O. Box 1000

Chester, PA 19022

1-800-888-4213

Equifax

P.O. Box 740241

Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

1-800-997-2493

Experian

P.O. Box 2104

Allen, TX 75013-2104

1-888-397-3742

Edwin

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