Credit Report Secrets: Do You Know What They Reveal?
|
If you've ever applied for a credit card or loan, you've probably hadyour credit report reviewed by the lender. Your credit report has a huge impact on your financial future, so it's well worth your time to be sure that you understand what your credit report says about you. Even if you're not interested in obtaining credit, your credit report can impact other areas of your life. Potential employers view your credit report to assess your trustworthiness as an employee. Landlords frequently check the credit reports of their tenants before allowing them to sign or renew their lease.
So whether you knew it or not, your credit report can have a major impact onyour quality of life. With this said I'm sure you can now see that there is abenefit to obtaining and then verifying that the information on your creditreport is accurate and true.
You can request copies of your report from the three major credit bureaus:Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A recent amendment to the federal Fair CreditReporting Act requires each of these national consumer-reporting companies toprovide you with a yearly free copy of your credit report upon your request.
Basically, your credit report is a summary of how you pay your bills; repayloans; how much credit you have available; what your monthly debts are; andother types of information that can help a prospective lender decide if you area good credit risk.
Your credit report is made up of several sections. The first section containspersonal identifying information such as your name, current and previousaddresses, social security number, telephone number, birth date, and yourcurrent and previous employers.
Your bill paying history with banks, retail stores, finance companies,mortgage companies, and others who have granted you credit is one of the mostimportant parts of your credit report. Public records that might indicate yourcredit worthiness, such as tax liens, court judgments, and bankruptcies are alsoincluded in the section detailing your credit history.
Your credit report includes a comprehensive listing of all credit grantersand other individuals who have received a copy of your credit report. Inaddition, lists of companies that have received your name and address in orderto offer you credit are also included in your credit report.
Most credit bureaus allow both the consumer and the creditor to makestatements if there is a dispute about something on the report. If applicable,your credit report will include these dispute statements.
Your credit report does not include bank account balances, race, religion,health, criminal records, driving records, or annual income. You've probablyheard about a FICO credit score as well. Credit scores are based on formulasthat use the information in your report, but they're not considered part ofyour credit report.
Problems with your credit report will result in you either being deniedcredit or receiving a higher interest rate. Red flags on your credit reportinclude excessive applications for additional credit, a short credit history, ahigh debt ratio, and late payments to previous creditors. In most cases,negative information will stay on your report for seven years. However,bankruptcy information stays on your credit report for ten years.
To help improve your credit report, always remember to close unused accounts,pay your bills on time, never use all of your available credit, and don'tapply for unnecessary credit.
If you would like to get more freecredit report information you can visit our website which contains many creditreport resources. http://www.my-credit-report.info
This article is copyright 2005, but can be freely reprinted, as long as nochanges are made, including hyperlinks.
|
|
|
Using Credit Cards Wisely
"I think money was stolen from my card" or "I might have blocked my card in the ATM" - these are frequent problems that bank customer-support officers usually hear from agitated clients. Incorrect use of credit cards or wrong interpretat...(related: Credit)
The Art Of Stoozing To Make Money From Credit Cards
Make Money from StoozingStoozing, this is a sophisticated method of making money from credit cards that of...(related: Credit)
Dont Trade Your Future For Todays Doodads
"Easy Low Down Monthly Payment," "Buy Now Pay Later," "You Deserve the Car Today and We Can Finance It for You," & "Spend Today, 0% APR until Next Year!" We see those statements above every where today, on TV commercials, car dealership, banks and magazines. Those statements have put a lot of people into a financial disaster, because the statements make a lot of people believe that acquiring bad debts is an ok thing to do.One of the main reasons why a person gets into a financial disaster is because he/she can't wait when it comes to buy t...(related: Credit)
Reward Credit Cards: Get The Best Rewards Card Incentive Program
A good credit reward card can contribute to your retirement account, offer gas rebates, score theme-park or vacation tickets or...(related: Credit)
Save Money And Lower Your Payments By Improving Or Repairing Your Credit
Having a better credit score not only represents easier access to money from lending institutions, but more importantly represents instant money in your pocket.This probably sounds like something obvious for most of people, but it isn't until you start thinking in terms of real examples and real dollars that most of us start to understand the magnitude of the benefits associated with a good c...(related: Credit)
First Major Regulatory And Legislative Victory Of 2005 For Creditors And Consumers
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, collectors are not allowed to disclose a consumers past due debt to anyone other than the debtor and in some cases a spouse. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act would have required collectors to identify the registered name of their business in any pre-recorded messages to consumers or debtors. Since the name of many collection agencies indicates that they are a debt collection agency or that they are calling for the purpose of collecting a debt, this would have caused them to violate the FDCPA. The TCPA creates unworkable contradictions with collectors and creditors who are following the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.The Telephone Consumer ...(related: Credit)
Balance Transfers Can Help You Stop Putting Money Down The Drain!
As you probably know, interest rates are at all time low right now and if you aren't getting the best deal from your credit card company then they owe it to you to either lower your rate, or you owe it to yourself to find a better deal. You see, credit card companies need your business in order to succeed and ...(related: Credit)
Avoiding Id Theft And Credit Fraud
Article excerpted from the new book, "How to Do Space Age Work with a Stone Age Brain" TM copyright 2004, all rights reserved, by Eve Abbott, the Organizer ExtraordinaireEach year billions of dollars in credit fraud is perpetrated on unsuspecting citizens. With so much personal information publicly available (or easily available to someone with medium computing skills) it is esse...(related: Credit)
Compare Credit Card Offers And Reward Yourself
Here's a simple system on how to pay zero interest and get tons of free stuff. Almost everyone uses credit cards. But only a few thousand people out there take advantage of what the credit card industry is really offering.<...(related: Credit)
Shoppers Beware - Tis The Season
It's the number one complaint from consumers and it only takes a moment for you to become a victim. While you search for holiday bargains, identity thieves are searching for targets - unsuspecting consumers. Here are some tips to help you safeguard your identity and other valuables:1) Protect your account numbers - Most stores only print the last four or five digits of the charge account on your receipt. However, some stores haven't caught up wi...(related: Credit)
Identity Theft : They Got Him
His hard earned money? Gone. Creditors on his back everyday. Police knocking on his door. His family strained to the breaking point. He didn't do anything wrong but my business partner's life got turned upside down a few years back. He became a victim of what is now the fastest growing crime in the world. Identity theft.<...(related: Credit)
How You Can Avoid Becoming A Victim Of Identity Theft
To reduce or minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, there are some basic steps you can take.The most important one is to ask periodically for a copy of your credit report. This is crucial because it is the surest and quickest way to determine if someone is using your name. Your credit report should list all bank and financial accounts under your name...(related: Credit)
Credit Cards - A Blessing Or A Curse?
Owning a credit card can be quite an advantage. Whethermaking online purchases, booking an air ticket or a hotelroom on the phone or simply being in need of someemergency cash, having a credit card can be a big help.However, getting a credit card is also a hugeresponsibility and if you don't keep an eye on yourspending habits, credit cards can create some seriousproblems. Here is an excellent list of tips on propercredit card use and if you follow these, you will likelystay out of trouble and your credit card will be ablessing instead of a curse:1. When you make a purchase with the credit card, itis akin to taking a loan from your bank. What youhave borrowed has...(related: Credit)
site-map - Copyright © 2007 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved | Free Articles and Information | Credit