A consumer may request for a Free Copy of Credit Report by any of the three major credit bureaus. Consumers can gain benefit from this service which is easily accessible from the Internet as well. The application process for getting a Free Copy of Credit Report is easy and simple. All consumers in the United States are legally entitled to obtain a Free Copy of their Credit Report every twelve months free of cost.

Free Copy of Credit Report

A consumer can contact the credit bureaus through a toll free number or by an internet application. Many consumers would also like to see their Credit Report, translated into a Credit Score. To avail this service, consumers need to pay a small fee. Only then, a Credit Bureau shall provide the Credit Report for free, but along with a Credit Score card as well.

Major Credit Bureaus – Equifax, TransUnion & Experian

Three major companies deal with consumers in this regard. These companies are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. They offer each consumer to check their Credit Reports every twelve months to see how their financial standing is. A consumer is advised to apply from a different Credit Bureau every four-month to have a better eye at the Credit Report.

Read the full story

It is difficult and frustrating to build a credit history in US if you are an immigrant. The three CRAs namely: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, are the major credit reporting agencies in US. They aren’t Government Organizations and they do not share information with each other, which means that they are in competition with each other.

If you do have a credit history in your home country, you won’t be able to transfer that to the CRAs in US, because they won’t accept information from other overseas countries due to some legal/privacy issues. So, this means you’ll have to start from the very beginning.

Here are some tips which will make this process easier:

1. Obtain a Social Security Number

First of all, you’ll need a Social Security Number for establishing a credit in US. In the past, International Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) would have been useful, but they are no longer compatible with CRAs system. An address in United States will also be required to fill in the credit applications.

CRAs can definitely create an account without Social Security Number by matching your other identifying information but you’ll have to bear its consequences afterwords.

A SSN is important, as most of the lenders will require the number in order to check your credit report when you apply. It might be possible that you get credit without the number, but the reference of that credit won’t show up in your credit report.

2. Getting the Credit

Credit reports in US contain all of the negative and positive information of how you’ve handled the credit. Officially the history starts building when you get a credit from the lender, who reports to your account and provide payment reports to one or all of the CRAs.

Read the full story

When did you last check your credit report? If it’s been a long time then check your credit report now for free of cost from annualcreditreport.com. If you don’t know about what type of website it is, then for your information, this website is designed by the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) on the basis of the requirements directed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. By using this site, you are allowed to connect with three agencies, and one time in year you will take the copy of credit report.

Remember, after getting connected with any of these agencies don’t fall prey for their lariat which they use to attract you to pay for other products. These products include credit score; customized reports, etc. don’t pay attention to them. Don’t deviate from your main focus, which is to get your free credit report that you can gain by following simple things. Always save your report in pd f format.

Be wary about unauthentic websites as freecreditreport.com

As you know, so many websites tried you to purchase their credit report. Federal trade commission says something about unauthorized sites for your benefit

“Many other websites claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring.” But, be careful. These sites are not part of the official annual free credit report program. And in some cases, the “free” product comes with strings attached. For example, some sites sign you up for a supposedly “free” service that converts to one you have to pay for after a trial period ends. If you don’t cancel during the trial period, you may be agreeing to let the company start charging fees to your credit card.

Read the full story

There are many people who have a bed credit score that is they have a bad credit history. This is because they have had a history consisting of non payments, late payments, incomplete payment, debts etc. Having a bad credit score can be disadvantageous for one in many ways. It can intervene in matters like getting a new house, renting a house, getting a car loan or getting a credit card etc. Those who have a good credit history need not worry and try to maintain their good credit record. But for those who have a bad credit record and are having troubles in different money financial matters, they should follow the following steps.

FIX YOUR PROBLEM BY REVIEWING YOUR CREDIT REPORT

Ask the AnnualCreditReport.com to issue you a copy of your credit report. You can ask the bureau to fix your problem if you see any error. Also you can contact your lender to solve your problem relating any error in your credit report. This will help you improve you credit report.

Credit reports are extremely important for your financial well being as they will surely be considered each time you get a car loan, mortgage or credit card.

The application process requires a complete review of your credit report and most importantly, your FICO score. You might not give this number much attention but for lenders, it is the biggest determining factor that helps them decide whether you are eligible for creditor not,for the what interest rate you will receive.

Thus in order to increase your chances of receiving the loan or credit card, you will have to maintain the highest FICO score possible, which is possible if you follow the following steps.

1. Go through your credit report when applying for a new loan or credit card. Check for any type of errors or incorrect information.

Read the full story

Big, bad problems can happen to you – bankruptcies, divorces, law suits, non-payment of taxes.  These are big problems that can affect your credit score in as big way.  If you have faced a large problem that has ruined your credit, you need to take action fast and work consistently to boost your FICO score:

If you have bad credit, establish better credit by taking out credit and repaying it quickly

If you have terrible credit following a bankruptcy or other major financial upheaval, you may need to get back into a good credit rating by taking out a loan you can handle.  Make an appointment to see your bank or bad credit lender a few months or years after the problem in question and arrange for a small loan.

You should have enough savings to pay for the loan before you do this.  Pay back the loan quickly.  It will not hugely boost your credit score but it will show lenders that you are having an easier time paying your bills.  Taking out a small loan you can repay is part of the slow process of reestablishing good credit following a big financial problem.

Try secured credit if you cannot qualify for other types of credit

Secured credit is credit or a loan which uses something as collateral.  In some cases, this could be an asset like a house.  In some cases, this collateral could be money frozen in an account by the bank for just such a purchase.

If you need credit following a big problem with your credit score, secured credit may be something you can qualify for. You can use this secured credit to reestablish a good credit rating so that you will qualify for other loans in the future.  You may have to pay slightly higher interest if your credit score is quite low, but in the long term repaying this type of loan can improve your credit score.

Give it time

Many people believe that simply paying off debts will improve their credit score at once.  This is not true, unfortunately.  If you have experienced a bankruptcy, have been reported to a collection agency, or have had charge-offs, the record will remain on your credit report – even after you have repaid your debts and resolved the problem.

In fact, major problems such as a bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for seven or ten years, affecting your credit score.  Even if your credit problems stem from simply not paying bills on time, it will take some time for the mark to fade from your credit report and for your credit score to reflect your better repayment.

Paying off your debts and resolving problems will help your credit score (since overdue accounts will be marked as “paid” on your credit report), but only time will remove the mark of the problems from your record entirely.

This means that if you have faced a major setback such as a bankruptcy, you may have to wait in order to get the best interest rates on larger purchases.  The good news is that the further away you are from a major financial problem, the less dire it appears.

For example, if you have declared bankruptcy, you can expect it to have a huge impact on your credit score for the first two years, during which time you will have a hard time getting any credit at all.

However, after two or three years, if you have been paying your bills on time, then the bankruptcy from two years ago will matter less because you have been rebuilding your credit.  Your credit will still suffer – but you will slowly be starting to work your way out of the credit problem.  Persistence and good financial habits will get you there.

This means that if you plan on making a major purchase (such as a house of car) that may require a loan, you should start working on improving your credit well in advance – even years in advance – of your actual purchase.  This is because you simply will not have enough time to radically alter your credit score in time if you wait too long.

Even if your credit score is already fairly good, you may need to give yourself several months of time to boost your credit rating enough to get the best loan rates.

Read the full story

If you want to improve your credit score, you need to go right to the source – your credit report.  Your credit report contains the information and data on which your credit score is based.  If you can alter or update the information in your credit report, your credit score will change to reflect the alterations.  For this reason, getting and checking you credit report is one of the first things you should do when you attempt to repair your credit score.  There are a few tips that can help you deal with your credit report so that you can give your credit score a boost:

Dispute errors on your credit report

Contact each of the three major credit bureaus -  TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian – and get copies of your credit reports and credit scores.  Carefully read over the reports and note any errors.  In writing, contact the credit bureaus and ask that mistakes be removed or investigated.

This is called a dispute letter and once it is received, credit bureaus have to investigate your dispute within thirty days of receiving your letter.  It is important to keep a copy of your letter and it is important to note the date the letter was sent.  You should not be accusatory or abusive in your letter – calmly and clearly state the problem and request an investigation.

Note that you are aware the agency is required to investigate the claim within thirty days and note that you will follow up.  Be sure that you do follow up with the issues you raised in your letter – just because the agency investigates does not always mean that your credit report will end up error-free.

Many credit bureaus now make it possible for you to correct errors on your credit report online – and many have information on their web sites that tells you exactly how disputes must be handled to be effectively removed.  It is important that you follow this information exactly so that the inaccuracies on your credit report are removed promptly and your credit score is updated as soon as possible.

Add a note to your credit report if there is a problem you can’t resolve

Sometimes, there are legitimate reasons why you didn’t pay a bill.  If a contractor refused to finish a job or did a poor job, then you may have refused payment, but the non-payment may still count against you on your credit report.  If there are any unusual circumstances surrounding your credit report that may affect your credit rating – such as a case of identity theft – you can ask that a note be attached to your credit report to explain the problem.

Some lenders will pay attention to this and some will not, but it is a better solution than nothing at all.  Such a note will not affect your credit score but will affect your credit report. More importantly, it leaves a paper trail of the problem that lenders can look at if they choose.

Make sure you know who is looking at your credit report and why

Many inquiries look bad on your credit report, but more than that you likely want to know who can see your personal financial information, now that you know that your personal information is stored in a credit report.  If you sign a document with a lender or apply for credit online, you can be sure that someone is looking at your credit report.

However, you may want to look over other documents in order to see who is taking a peek.  Insurance agents will often look at your credit report, for example.  Some landlords and potential employers will, too.  You need to be careful about online sources, too.  In general, when you provide someone with your social insurance number, you may be giving permission to look at your credit report.  You shouldn’t bar people from looking, but knowing who is looking is good financial practice.

Know the difference between soft and hard inquiries

When you pull your credit report to look at it, it is counted as a “soft inquiry.”  Only “hard inquiries” from lenders will affect your credit score dramatically.  Although checking your credit score too often is an expensive habit, you should not avoid checking your credit report because you fear it will make your credit rating worse.

Read the full story