The importance of your credit report and checking it regularly

It is essential if you ever want to take out a loan from a company to buy a home, new car, or other big purchases in the future that you maintain a satisfactory credit report. As long as you are being responsible, paying your bills on time, and upholding your half of any contracts you might have, you should have nothing to worry about. However it is important to check your credit report on a regular basis as often mistakes are made and a false, negative piece of information can be put on your credit report. If someone has made a mistake, than it can easily be adjusted and you can have your credit back to normal by following a few small steps.

It is your job as a credit report holder, to regularly check that your credit report looks normal, and if there is a mistake, you need to start the dispute process.

To start a dispute process you must contact the credit agency explaining in detail what you think the credit error is. It is important to send any extra information that could help your case move along quicker or used as evidence when the credit agency views your case.

Within a thirty day period, the credit report agency must legally begin the investigation process into your case. The CRA will send documents to the company that gave you the negative credit report in the first place, and that company will research and report back to the CRA with either a true or false report.

If the report comes back as true, then it is the job of all credit agencies to fix the mistake on the report and send you a copy of the updated credit report that should show your positive report.

If the investigation comes back as false, than unfortunately no negative information will be removed from your credit report.

However, the agency does give you the option to hold onto the documents containing the dispute information so that any future creditors can see that you believe negative information on your credit report is incorrect.

It is important to check your credit report every so often and be aware of what is going on with it. Credit agencies are dealing with thousands of credit reports every day, and they are bound to make a mistake somewhere. It is these small mistakes that will have the most profound affect on your life and your ability to obtain loans or items that require credit in the immediate tense as well as far into the future.

In the United States as well as most parts of the world, the ability to secure credit is key to leading successful life. Your credit score creates a finical picture of who you are and your ability to responsibly handle debts and payments. There are several leading agencies that handle consumer credit reports. Let’s familiarize ourselves with a few.

Trans Union

 This is the third largest in the country and has been in operations since 1968.  Their main office is located inChicago. This company markets it services to creditors as well as consumers. They not only offer credit services, they now have launched a new tenant screening system which functions much in the same way as a credit report does. It is called Smart move and is specially formatted to provide key leasing information regarding potential renters.

Equifax

This is one of the top two credit reporting agencies. Equifax started in 1899 and currently host the credit histories of over 450 million unique persons. This agency started with mainly American and Canadian citizens and has since expanded their scope to over 14 countries. They also market their services to consumers but have a high business to business volume rate.

Experian

 This company started out as CCN Systems, Now under the heading of Experian this global credit reporting agency is the chief competitor of Trans Union and Equifax. Among hosting credit histories, it focuses on information. It collects information on business, people, car registration as well as insurance. It operates in US,Europeand several other key countries. It also markets its credit services to consumers as well as directly to creditors.

Compuscan

 This is a credit agency that works in the same way as the famous tri bureau, the main difference is that this company founded in 1994 is located inSouth Africaand only services other African countries

Innovis

 This consumer reporting agency based in theUSis less know by the common person but is well known by larger companies who report debt such as Verizon or local utility companies. Its scoring affect your overall rating, but most consumer over look at when requesting their credit reports.

PBRC

This is an even less know credit agency in the US. It is in the same class as the other reporting agency but functions in a different manner that is friendlier to the consumer.

This company started in 2002 and funded by a grant from Ford Corporation is a agency that is focused on helping consumers build a good credit history through self reporting. You are allowed to enroll and submit your own positive bill payment history to help build a positive credit profile. Things such as rent, utilities, cable and other items not automatically reported to the larger agencies can be reported here.

Regardless of the agency, all are required to report and issue in the same manner. You may request for a copy of your personal report yearly and report mistakes directly to them accordingly.

Having your identity stolen can be scary and confusing. If you have been victimized by someone you don’t even know, someone pretending to be you, it may be hard to get organized and on the road to recovery from having your identity stolen. However, with four simple steps, it doesn’t have to be a hopeless case. You can start picking up the pieces and get your credit back in order.

• The first thing to do if you have been a victim of identity theft is place a fraud report with any of the three consumer report companies.

• After you have placed a report, it will prevent any offender from repeatedly using your identity to create new accounts using your information and your name.

• Although there are three consumer report companies you only need to place your fraud report with one of them. By law a consumer report company must contact the other two companies and inform them of your identity theft.

• The three consumer report companies that are involved when you submit a fraud report are Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax.

• After this, it is the job of one of the three companies to send you a credit report to review. When you receive your credit report, it is important to closely look over it, and ensure there are no odd transactions could have been made from whoever stole your identity.

The second step to take when your identity have been stolen is to get in touch with your bank and or credit company, so they can review and cancel any accounts that may have been made illegally. Once you have closed your old accounts you should make a new one. However when a new account is made, it is important to make sure you set it up using a new password, identification number, and security question. If you do not set up your new account information wisely, the theft stealing your identity could easily continue to steal from your account.

• If a theft has created an account using your identity, it is important to report the matter to the police, who should right up a report.

The police should make a copy of the report for both themselves and a copy for you.

• Once a report has been made, all illegal accounts need to be closed. If the theft has made any illegally charges the bank should be happy to reimburse you.

• Once you have taken care of your accounts it can be important to file a complaint with the FTC. Filling out the extra information can help the authorities track down the individual who has stolen your identity and help them improve the ways in which they find them in the future.

• Filing a complaint with the FTC can be done both online and via their hotline.

Having someone steal your identity can be a terrible experience, but following rational and simple steps can help you solve the problem smoothly and quickly.

A credit report is filled with information about how reliable of a person you are. Having a good credit report can be important, and it can highly up your chances of being accepted by credit companies, if you ever want to buy a home, car, or other big purchase that you will need to make payments on.

Although many people often talk about credit reports, they are clueless as to what exactly is on a credit report.

• A credit report is filled with both financial information and general history about you to determine whether or not creditors think you will pay back your loan responsibly.
• Financial information on a credit report usually looks at things such as how you pay your bills: cash, card, check, if your bills have been paid on time over the years, if you have ever been bankrupt and filed for bankruptcy, and if you have ever been involved in a lawsuit, and if so, did you win, or did you lose.
• General information is usually information about your personal history to see if you are capable of paying back credit that has been lent to you.
• Creditors often look at things like you past criminal convictions: have you ever been charged with a misdemeanor and, or felony, and if you have ever been arrested and spent any time in a jail cell.

Many individuals feel that their past personal history shouldn’t affect their credit score, but often times looking at past history is a great advantage to creditors as it helps determine an individual’s reliability. It is very important to be aware of what is on your credit report: if you have a high credit report, than you have nothing to worry about. However, if you have a low credit rating, than you can work on improving your credit score.

Not only is it important to keep up to date with you credit score to know whether it needs to be improved or not, there are often times when creditors make the odd mistake and put a negative report on your credit that shouldn’t be there. If you are organized and regularly check your credit report, this error can easily be solved. There are several different, easy ways to obtain your credit report.

You can obtain it via the internet: if you visit www.annualcreditreport.com, you can find forms that you easily fill in and send off to creditors, who will send back your credit rating within a reasonable time period, if you feel as though the internet isn’t as secure as you like you can print off a form online and send your information in, or you can even call toll free to get your credit score quickly and easily.

Every individual is entitled to one free credit report a year/ every twelve months, and they are not hard to obtain, so be responsible and keep track of your credit because when it comes time to buying that BMW when you retire, you might need the positive credit rating.

If you receive a letter saying you have been approved for a credit from a particular credit company; credit that you haven’t applied for, you may wonder what is going on. This type of letter is called a pre-screened offer, and individuals receive them every day.

• A pre-screened credit offer is sent to you by credit companies who would like to offer you their services.
• This is a great way that credit agencies can advertise their services to the public.
• Companies know who is eligible for their services by sending a criteria check list to the credit reporting agencies.
• The credit reporting agencies then make a list of names that meet the criteria check list and send it back to the companies to send out their pre-screened credit offers.

Because of all of the scams that go on today, many people often have questions about pre-screened credit report and are hesitant to believe they have been issued by a legitimate company. However, there is usually no need to worry as:  screened-credit checks will have neither a negative nor positive effect on your actual credit report. None of the information that the companies look through during the pre-screened process are saved on your credit history. Another reason you can rest assured that these credit offers are legitimate is they usually send them via snail mail, with an address of where the offer came from and a phone number to call.

• If you receive a pre-screened offer through your email, then you might take more precautions to ensure the company is legitimate; with all of the spam that goes from email to email, you never know what kind of virtual mail you are getting.

• Another thing you can check is where you credit offer has come from. Most offers come from credit card companies, or insurance companies. Things sent to you in the mail addressed to the current resident are not considered pre-screened offers, and could be a scam.

Although pre-screened credit offers do not affect your credit report directly, some people would prefer not receive these credit offers. If you wish to no longer receive such offers there are two things you can do; opt out temporarily or opt of permanently.

• When you opt out temporarily, it will last five years.

• To temporally opt out is simple, all you have to do is contact the credit reporting agencies by phone or through their website, and request your name not be placed on any pre-screened offers.

• If you decide to opt out of pre-screened credit offers permanently, you must fill out a form from www.optoutscreen.com.

• On this form you must fill in personal information about you self for security purposes.

• If you have already opted out of pre-screened credit offers, and decide you want to start receiving offers again, it is very easy.

•  All you have to do is call the agencies, and usually they are happy to make your name available again at no cost at all. Understanding what a pre-screened credit offer is can be important and protect you from becoming a victim of any scam that might be out there.

Repair Your Credit: Credit Card VS Debit Card

In this day in age, almost everyone has some form of electronic payment. Whether it is a credit card that you use to make big purchases with or a debit card to pay for groceries, having access to a credit or debit card both have their perks, but you have to be careful, because they certainly have their downfalls too.

Many individuals wonder what electronic form of payment is the smartest and which will benefit them the most in the long run. If you are either looking to build or repair your credit, than using a credit card can be a good idea.

Making purchases with a credit card is like borrowing money from the bank. If you use your credit card to buy a new sofa that is five hundred dollars, you will eventually have to pay this back to the bank; sometimes you are even charged interest, and end up paying them back a little more money than you spent. If you are disciplined and only use your credit card to make small purchases that you can pay back straight away, than a credit card is a great way to build or repair your credit. However, if you know that you will spend more money than you can pay back, having a credit card might worsen you credit in the long run.

Having a good credit report can be important if you ever decide you want to buy your own home, or maybe even a new car, so learning to use a credit card responsibly is a very good idea!

Using a debit card is different than using a credit card as you are spending money that you have already earned, money that is being taken directly from your bank account. This means you will not have to pay back the money you spend when you use your debit card.

Although debit cards don’t affect your credit directly, you still have to careful as people often have an overdraft, which is an agreement between a bank and a debit card holder that says if they spend more than the money that is in their account, the bank will cover it, but you will have to pay them back, just like you have to pay back your credit card bill, so it is important to keep track of how much money you have put in your bank account. Although debit cards don’t affect your credit report directly, if you keep track of your finances, debit cards can be good and help prevent any negative credit from going on your credit report.

There a both good and bad things about using credit and debit cards and it is important for you to decide whether you are ready to take on the responsibility of being an electronic card holder. If not, it might be best to stick with cash.

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A new credit freeze prevents any new companies from obtaining your credit report. Some individuals place credit freezes simply because they provide people much more protection. A new credit freeze means that your credit report cannot be transmitted together through likely loan companies or insurance firms;

• A protection freeze can assist to avert identity robbery because a lot of companies cannot open credit accounts without looking at a new consumer’s credit ranking.
•  A freeze is just not 100 percent fail-safe seeing that some loan companies could all of which challenge credit devoid of dragging a new credit score. Agencies which possess a pre-existing method of trading together with is able to take a new report in spite of the particular freeze.
• Your credit report also may be launched for the goal of prescreening for credit presents.

Placing a Credit Freeze on your Credit Report

When you place a new credit freeze, you are keeping any likely loan companies from having access to your credit report. Placing a new credit freeze against your credit score will provide elevated protection next to growing to be a new unwilling recipient regarding identity theft. However, many people grow to be perplexed by means of what a credit freeze can and also won’t carry out.

• Credit freezes can avert just about any likely loan companies by obtaining your credit report. Which simply means no brand-new accounts may be approved in your identity.
• Any firms you are previously using the services of can still get access to your credit report.
•  When a new credit freeze it is in place, you may even now receive your free-of-charge annual credit report.
• Companies which you haven’t listed for can even now be capable to deliver pre-screened credit offers back.
• If an identity theft has previously had access to an account which you currently have open, a new credit freeze cannot halt these people from having access to it.

Fees for Placing a Credit Freeze

The cost of having a new credit freeze placed changes in amount based on that state people are in. If you’re identity HAS been stolen, then it will most likely be free of charge. An individual that is placing the particular credit freeze for extra protection can be recharged a compact charge, typically ten dollars. This particular charge may be from credit reporting agency, for a total of thirty dollars.

A Fraud alert

A Fraud alert informs anyone who pulls your views your credit file that your personal information has been stolen. When a business checks your credit and sees a fraud alert, they should take extra steps to make sure the person applying for the credit is actually you. Placing a fraud alert on your credit report is free.

Placing a fraud alert on your credit report

You will discover not one but two type of fraud alerts: an initial fraud alert in addition to an extended fraud alert.

• An Initial Fraud Alert
  • An initial fraud alert stays on your report with regard to at the least 90 days. You might inquire that an initial Fraud alert should be placed on your credit report in the event you believe you might have been a victim of identity theft. An initial Fraud alert is suitable if the finances continues to be thieved or maybe problems been used by just a “phishing” rip-off.
  • By using an initial Fraud alert, potential collectors have got to work with what the law states are “reasonable policies in addition to procedures” to authenticate your own individuality before issuing consumer credit within your name.
    Nonetheless, the guidelines potential collectors decide on to authenticate your own individuality won’t always necessarily prove to them that the applicant is not you. Once you place an initial Fraud alert on your credit file, you’re entitled to obtain one cost-free credit file from each of the several countrywide consumer reporting agencies, in addition to (in the event you inquire) only the final 4 digits of your social security number appearing on your credit file.

• An Extended Fraud Alert
  • Extended fraud alerts stay on your credit file with regard for five to seven years. You might have an extended alert placed on your credit report if you know without a doubt that you’ve been a victim of identity theft. A good force trading Individuality Thievery Report needs to be satisfactory to receive an extended Fraud alert.
  • By using an extended Fraud alert, potential collectors have got to speak directly with you before they will accept you consumer credit. Once you place an extended Fraud alert on your credit file, you’re entitled to two cost-free credits file within twelve months from each of the consumer reporting agencies.
  • You will also be taken off of the pre-screened credit offer list for at least five years, unless you request to be put back on before that period of time is up.
  • Just like when you placed the alert on your credit report, you will be required to present correct proof of your identity to remove it. That may be your social security number, name, address, and other pre-set-up verification information.

The fact that potential creditors must speak directly with you to provide credit to you, and that you get a free credit report  from each of the several credit reporting agencies so you can check for fraudulent activity are big reasons to place a fraud alert if you feel you need it.

You can always obtain cost-free credit report with no strings attached, but that’s limited to once per year. This gives you a second chance of checking to be sure everything is alright. Also keep in mind that you can remove the alert in the future if you decide you no longer need it.