Due to changes made to the Fair Credit Reporting Act as of December 2003, the three credit bureaus TransUnion, Experian and Equifax are now required, at your request, to provide you with an official credit report, at no cost. This is allowed once every 12 months. You are encouraged to take advantage of this, and make sure that what is getting revealed to lenders and potential employers is totally accurate information.
With identity theft at an all time high (40 million Americans had their identities stolen a few weeks ago in the biggest case of identity theft in American history), it is very important to ensure that your credit report is correct. There are millions of people in need of bad credit repair that may not even know it because their credit reports have been compromised by identity thieves.
Before you can understand your credit report, you must obtain it. It is very simple to obtain a free copy of your credit report. You can use three different methods:
1. You may contact each of the three credit reporting bureaus directly either by phone or in writing:
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
1-800-685-1111
Experian
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
1-888-397-3742
TransUnion
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
1-800-888-4213
2. You may use AnnualCreditReport.com and make your inquiry online.
3. You can call the toll-free Annual Report number at 877-322-8228 for more information.
Once you have your credit report in hand, how do you read it? There is a lot of information in these reports and it can be confusing. To begin your bad credit repair, you must be able to understand your credit report, right? Here is an outline of the information it contains:
The I.D. Section. This is where any information regarding your name, home address, social security number, date of birth, and spousal information (if applicable) is located. You will want to make sure this information is correct, because these are the components that define you.
Credit History. This is the main part of your report. You will want to examine this very closely and take your time. Any information that is incorrect should be disputed immediately. It will have a complete list of your open and paid credit accounts. Any late payments made will also be listed here. For each account, the following will be listed:
1. Company name
2. Account number
3. Your responsibility on the account i.e. individual, joint, co-signer, etc.
4. Date the account was opened
5. Number of months the account history has been reported
6. Last activity which will be your last payment or last charge
7. High limit – the highest amount your account has reached
8. Terms – if this is a car loans, the length of your loan may be included
9. Balance due on account
10. Past due amount at the time of the report
11. The type of account it is – revolving (like a credit card), installment (like a car or home loan) or open (like a line of credit)
12. Date reported – the last time your account information was updated on the account by the creditor
Collections Accounts. If any of your accounts have gone to collections in the past seven years, they will be listed here. If there is something that looks unfamiliar to you, it is important to dispute this immediately.
Courthouse Records. This is also known as public records. If there have been any judgments on any of your accounts i.e. bankruptcy records, child support settlements or any court-decided accounts, they may show up in this section. Again, inaccuracies should be disputed immediately.
Inquiries. This section will contain information on companies that have checked your credit in the last 24 months. Again if a company or inquiry looks unfamiliar, you will want to investigate this and see why this company is checking your credit. Multiple inquiries can decrease your credit score.
If you have been denied a loan, credit, or employment because of your credit score, do not be afraid to ask for information about it from whomever denied you. It is important to know what is being seen by potential lenders and employers, because what they see results in the approval or denial you will get.
If any portion of your credit report is inaccurate, or if you have outstanding debts, you should immediately begin the process of bad credit repair Higher credit scores will lead to more loan, credit card, and employment approvals along the ability to qualify for lower interest rates and money-saving promotions (such as cash-back, 0% APR, and travel rewards). Your credit report is very powerful and can impact your quality of life. Understand your credit report and take control.
-Ken S
© 2008
By: Ken S
Archive for December, 2009
Credit Repair After Foreclosure
December 26th, 2009
Foreclosure can seriously taint your credit, but it is feasible to repair your damaged credit from foreclosure. I will offer some suggestions to help you repair your credit and also help you with your spending habits after foreclosure.
Following a foreclosure, it is a must to improve your credit and don’t have crazy spending habits. If you want to continue to fall back into financial trouble, then spend like crazy. We all know we don’t want to do that so, here are some tips that can help:
In NO particular order for your credit repair from foreclosure:
1. Always Pay Your Bills on Time
2. Get Help
3. Establish a Budget
You will never repair your credit with the snap of two fingers, but with some effort and consistency. You will rebuild your credit history that you can see white positive light. In order to do this, you will need to pay all of your bills on time number one (This is always a must, keep in good standing with your creditor as best as you can), especially in repayment periods. This keeps the bill collectors off your back and proves to creditors that you are serious about your financial responsibilities, which in turn will reduce a little stress.
From time to time slip into your old bad spending habits after a foreclosure. At this time you should get some help! You may talk to a friend, family member, and coworker or if necessary, consider some counseling for your credit being ruined by the foreclosure. There are many services that can offer you advice and assistance free of charge.
Establishing a budget is one of the major things you can do to help improve your credit and help you put an end to your awful spending. and more importantly, you must stick with the plan. However you plan your budget is up to you, but it is a good idea to keep it as simple as you can. One thing to remember is that if you have more money going out of the budget than into it, you are on the wrong track.
By: Tarron Acuff
Self Credit Repair
December 24th, 2009
The majority of people have to deal with personal finances a chore. When you are not disciplined enough and not persistent in this sphere you may found yourself in debt. People are commonly loath to manage their finances for all sorts of reasons, including being uncomfortable with math, having no time, or even being fearful of having little money in the bank to cover all the bills. Specialists on debt assert that having clear knowledge about your finances is a crucial first step in maintaining financial health or making it better. So, there are numerous choices for such people: debt settlement (or debt negotiation), debt consolidation, debt counseling, credit repair, etc. Here you will find information about such option as credit repair in more details.
The term “credit repair” is a systematic process of rehabilitating an individual’s creditworthiness, or financial credit reputation. To start credit repair process a consumer needs to get copies of his/her credit report, to check the credit report for errors, omissions or misleading information, and also to request corrections to inaccurate information through a formal dispute. To help the consumer be a success in this process many laws, regulations, and practices govern this process. Moreover there are lots of reputable organizations that are ready to guide individuals through this undertaking process. If you have enough time, patience, and plenty of attention to detail and are ready to put some effort – much, if not all, may be handled without such organizations’ help. The steps that you need to undertake to stand in good books of credit reporting agencies are as follows.
You need to subscribe to your credit reports regularly and inform the credit agency that you intend to check the credit report for any inconsistencies. Write down any inconsistency or discrepancy you have found. You also need to get the contact information of the agency that gave you the credit. Beginning with this point and further on you should start writing down the communications with the credit company. All the interactions between you and the credit agency should be kept in a summary record (among the useful information are representatives names, their identity). When you have a complaint toward the agency you need to register in a certified way. It is also useful to have separate letters for different problems for you not to mix them up. Similar separate set of communications for different problems should be used. Any inconsistencies that you have found in the report can be presented in the dispute form of the credit bureau. The application to the bureau or the agency should be supplemented with the records you have kept. When submitting the form you need to get the application reference number in order to have the opportunity to refer to it in any further communication with the agency.
This is the way to keep you credit report in the right order and to hold on professional communication with credit bureaus or agencies. When these financial structures see that you are competent and accurate enough they will treat you more professionally further on.
By: Den Braun
