Your free credit report supplies you with all the necessary information you need to know about your personal credit history. You can request your credit report personally and receive the information online. Without much effort and a small amount of time, you can request a “free copy of my credit report” from an online service.
The website Annual Credit Report allows you, the consumer to review your free credit report once a year. If you do not have access to a computer, you can request a credit report by filling out the information available from the FTC and sending it to the address provided for Annual Credit Report.
The three top credit agencies that you receive a credit report from are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The
Identity theft and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
The threat of identity theft and how consumers might prevent it are two good reasons why consumers should understand their rights under consumer legislation such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report released by Javelin Strategy and Research found that the number of U.S. adults who became victims of identity fraud dropped significantly from 10.1 million in 2003 and 9.3 million in 2005 to 8.4 million in 2007.
Consumers can find more information about the foregoing study and other privacy rights information at PrivacyRights.org. When consumers take charge of credit, they can protect themselves from some instances of fraud. Read full post…
18 Dec
Posted by admin as Credit Score
Credit Tip! Get a copy of your credit report. Take advantage of the free government credit report from each of the National Consumer Credit Bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Equifax.
It is important to keep track of what is on your credit report by checking it at least once a year. With the amount of free online credit report companies, it is relatively easy to secure a copy of your credit report and make sure everything on it is accurate. However, if you are planning to apply for a home loan, you should obtain a copy of your credit report before you talk to your lender and obtaining just one credit report might not be enough.
Credit card companies and lenders report your account activity to the three national credit monitoring bureaus, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
By now, you’ve probably heard about credit card issuers paying customers to close their accounts in the wake of one of the worst credit collapses in history.
But the latest move by card issuers is quite the opposite; some are charging customers inactivity fees for dormant credit card accounts.
That’s right, if you fail to use your credit card for a certain period of time, you may be slapped with a fee (in the ballpark of $20) to keep it open.
Of course, it hardly seems worth paying it, given the fact that most credit card issuers do not charge inactivity fees.
However, some consumers have been led to believe that closing a credit card will do serious damage to their credit score, so they may hold off.
And though your credit score could fall as a result of a closed account, it probably won’t mean a whole lot if it’s a card you seldom use.
Additionally, there’s no reason you should pay a fee to keep your credit card open, regardless of the credit scoring impact.
If you feel you must keep it open, consider using the dormant card to pay a recurring monthly bill such as your gym membership or cell phone bill to avoid the inactivity fee.
Remember, the older the card account, the more value it has in terms of credit scoring, so don’t fret about closing a newer credit card.
And if you’ve got plenty of solid credit history, the “damage” to your score will likely be minimal if at all negative (Should I close my credit card account?).
Tip: Keep an eye out for changes to your credit card terms as issuers look to charge new fees to offset the impact of the recently passed Credit Card Bills of Rights.
15 Dec
Posted by admin as Credit Score
It’s always important to know what your going to be able to get approved for when you are applying for any type of loan. In fact, some jobs these days even run your credit report to see how responsible of a person you are. With these factors being so important, it’s best to know what they will find and what you can expect when they do go into your credit and pull up all your history.
So what if you are going to get a house? Or a car? In order to truly estimate what your interest rates will be you have to know what your credit score is so accurately assess what it may be. I don’t know about you, but I have a budget I have to stick by on my big purchases and I have to know what i’m eligible for before I can make any decisions.
Obviously the better your credit score, the better your interest rates will be, in turn making your payments substantially lower. So I gu
11 Dec
Posted by admin as Credit Score
Credit Tip! Residents of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont are entitled by state law to one free credit report from a credit-reporting agency per year. Residents of Georgia are entitled to two free credit reports.
Knowing what is on your credit report can help to keep your personal information safe, give you a chance to correct inaccuracies, and save you money on interest rates when you apply for a home loan. With the wide availability of free or low cost credit reports online, there is no reason to spend a lot of money to find out how credit worthy you really are.
Obtain a free credit report when you sign up for special services
If you are interested in signing up for credit monitoring or similar credit check services, take advantage of a company that offers a free credit report when you sign up for their program.