Credit Reports Galore

libertywarrior asked:


Attention credit gurus. A consumer is supposed to be able to get one free credit report. But when I tried to order, the co. puts up an agreement that forces you into monthly credit report monitoring for a monthly fee, this before they give you the “free” report, So what is the best way to get the 3 credit reports.

LINCOLN

Peter Nisbet asked:


The importance of getting your free credit report cannot be overemphasized. In the current economic climate, with such a strong squeeze on credit, everybody’s credit rating is at risk, and even if you think you have a premium credit score, you might be in for an unpleasant shock. People are getting such shocks not only daily, but hourly throughout the USA.

However, before we discuss that, let’s have a look at what a credit report is and what information it gives you. It contains four parts basically: your personal details, your credit history, public records appertaining to your financial stability and finally, inquiries made by third parties as to your credit record. While you might not understand the need for this information, they are carefully examined by potential lenders.

To put it in general terms, your credit report is a record of your credit history and your financial stability. It contains financial details such as mortgages, loans, mail order agreements, credit cards, banking facilities and so on, and includes your repayment history, any late payments, missed payments, defaults and so on. It also includes any details of credit or loan applications you have made, and whether any have been turned down.

If your credit report is bad, you will either not be offered credit or will have to pay a higher interest rate than those with a good credit report. In some cases you will be refused credit. Hence the importance of knowing what your credit record is like. The same is true of your credit score that lenders use to assess your credit-worthiness.

The implications of a bad credit report include you being refused a credit card application, a loan, a mortgage, a car loan and any other form of credit. You could even be refused a mail order agreement or even a car hire. That is not the end of it, because the same could apply to your partner and your children if they reside at the same address as you. When your kids look for a mortgage of their own before being married, or seek a loan for their first car, they could be refused because of your poor credit record.

That is fine if the record is correct, because although it is bad for you, at least it will have been deserved. However, it has been estimated that up to 90% of credit records are inaccurate, and that a large proportion of people are being wrongly refused credit. Not an entire 90%, obviously, but a lot of people are being unfairly refused credit, and that could be you or your kids. You won’t know till you apply.

Why wait till then? Why not just get a credit report now, so that you know where you stand. It makes sense, and since it is free what are you waiting for? Did you know that anybody can see your credit report? In the USA, the Fair credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows employers, creditors, landlords, insurers and any other business to have access to your credit report for purposes of credit, renting a home, employment or any other reason where your financial situation could be of interest.

These reports are available in the USA from three agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, and each has to provide you with a free copy of your credit report annually on request. Once you have a bad record on your report you have to wait 7 years to have it removed.

However, there are companies that help you to check up on your report and have any inaccurate data removed. You could easily have your next credit request refused due to inaccurate or false information. Identity theft or even mistaken identity is no longer uncommon. Nor is it uncommon for office staff to make typing errors and you to have something on your credit record that never occurred.

In today’s economic climate your credit is the one thing you must do all that you can to protect, so make sure you implement your right to a free credit report. There are companies that can get your free report from all three agencies, and then check it with you to make sure that nothing is untoward. With 90% containing inaccurate information, that might be highly likely. If so they can help you to get these false records removed.

It’s your credit, and it affects everybody living in your home. Get it checked out now with a free triple credit report. Also check up on your credit score at the same time.



DARIUS

LittleMomma asked:


I pulled a credit report and the Trans Union score was 740. Two days later, I had to pull a new report - it was the lender’s decision, not mine - and Trans Union dropped their score nearly 50 points!!! I understand they use different models, but can anyone explain this huge drop? There were absolutely no differences in the two reports.
Both reports were pulled for the sake of a mortgage, not auto financing or anything else.

MARQUIS

Bree asked:


I recently watched a Montel show about information theft without anybody finding out especially people under 18. And I get a lot of emails about credit reports and I’m a little scared that something is up. How do I know and find out if someone had been using my information?

RAFAEL

Mike Clover asked:


What is in a credit report? A credit report is a snapshot of your current obligations to creditors. These creditors include credit card companies, mortgage companies, banks, and retail stores. Lenders are permitted by law to check your credit report and review it in order to determine whether or not to grant credit to you. In order to build a credit report all you have to do is establish credit in the form of a bank loan, credit card account, car loan, mortgage, or studen loan. Information on your credit report comes directly from your history with accounts you currently have outstanding loans with. Whether you pay your obligations on time or not, lenders will report that information to the credit bureaus. There are four categories.

1. Your personal information: Your credit report identifies you will the following information.

” Your name

” Social Security number

” Current address ” Previous address

” Birth date

” Current employer and previous employers

” Phone number

2. Your credit history: Your credit history will show your payment history with current lenders such as:

” Credit Card companies

” Mortgage companies

” Retail stores

” Finance companies

3. Inquiries: This is where lenders are finance companies have requested your credit report. The rule of thumb is the less inquiries the better.

4. Public Records: Your credit report lists any obligations that may affect your credit including the following:

” Judgments

” Tax Liens

” Bankruptcies

Credit Reports are now available to any organization that is trying to grant you credit, or a company considering hiring you. Your personal credit report is so important during this day and age that you need to have a current copy to see what they are seeing. Even landlords are pulling credit in order to grant you permission to rent from them. With all this in mind, it is highly recommended that you have recent copy of your credit report, so that you are aware whats being reported in regards to your personal credit history. Most of the companies that provide credit reports, dont understand credit, they just sell you a credit report.There are also websites that offer a credit report for Free but fail to mention that you will not get a free credit score. Make sure when you obtain a copy of your credit report it comes with all 3 reports and score. It makes no sense to get copy of your credit report without your scores since creditors look heavily at your credit scores. Remember “your Credit is your Life.”



ERNIE

Mike Clover asked:


In this article we will discuss the misconception of free credit reports. There are lots of advertisements out there saying get your free credit report. But what exactly does a free credit report come with? I have personally seen about 3 different types of credit reports being advertised out there.

The first type of credit report is the credit report where you only get a credit report from one of the bureaus. There are 3 bureaus, and they are Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian. Typically the offer includes a report only from one of these bureaus. You might ask yourself how does this help me, and the answer is it does not help very much. The reason is since there are 3 bureaus, and they all report somewhat different information; you might want to get a credit report from all three bureaus. This is called a tri-merge, or a 3-1 credit report. In other words you get one report with all three bureaus and what they are currently reporting about you in regards to loans outstanding with your creditors.

The second type of credit report is the 3-1 credit report with credit score. This is somewhat better; you get all three bureaus reporting your information along with only one of the agencies giving a score. Well you might ask yourself again, what is the advantage and disadvantages of this type of credit report? Since there are 3 bureaus reporting your credit, it would only make sense to get all 3 scores since that is what most lenders look at. Mortgage companies pull your 3-1 credit report with all three scores and typically use the middle score for qualifying purposes. If this is the industry standard in the qualifying process, shouldn?t you see the same report? I would have to say yes.

The third type of credit report is the 3-1 credit report with all 3 scores. This is the best type of credit report, because it is what lenders look at. Most people out there getting a free copy of there credit reports are not really sure what they are getting. Annualcreditreport.com advertises that you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once a year, but fail to mention you don?t get your scores. It is in your best interest to get your credit report with all 3 bureaus and all 3 scores, especially since this is what most creditors look at in the determining process for lending you money.

Here is the break down for credit scores and how they are classified for mortgage:

? 780-850 ? Low Risk

? 740-780 - Medium ?Low Risk

? 690-740- Medium Risk

? 620-690- Medium High Risk

? 620 and Below ? High Risk or ?Sub-Prime.?

With all of this being said, it obviously makes more sense to get your 3-1 credit report with all 3 credit scores. Especially since that is what creditors are looking at. When pulling a consumer credit report it does not affect your credit scores.



ISAAC

Liz Roberts asked:


Whenever somebody applies for credit or financing, his or her credit report will be pulled electronically from any of the three major consumer reporting agencies (CRA). These CRAs are Experian, Trans Union, or Equifax - companies that are responsible for maintaining correct and up-to-date credit information around the country. Everyone is probably aware that these three nationwide credit bureaus have to monitor billions of data records therefore it is not inevitable to find errors with the reports. A majority of consumers would have at least one omission or inaccurate detail on their credit report.

It is for this very reason that as a consumer, the responsibility of checking your own credit information falls on your shoulders. Make sure that you get a copy of your credit report from each of the three Credit Reporting Agencies. You should contact each credit bureau and ask for your free credit report (you are entitled to 1 free copy every year). If you have been denied credit within the past 60 days, you are also entitled to a free credit report.

Here is a list of each credit bureau. Make that call and start checking your credit info.

Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta , GA 30374-0241;(800) 685-1111.

Experian(formerly TRW),P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013; (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742).

Trans Union , P.O. Box 1000 , Chester , PA 19022 ; (800) 916-8800.

Using The Internet To Obtain Your Credit Report

You can also use the internet to obtain your credit report. Many companies offer instant access to your credit report online and will offer you a free credit report if you try their credit monitoring service for 30 days. Credit monitoring services are a great way to keep track of your credit and stop potential identity thieves. As soon as you or someone else applies for credit using your name and social security number, these services will alert you via email. If you did not request this new credit you just need to log into your account and start the process of alerting the credit bureaus of potential fraud activity.

How is the information found on your credit report used

The credit information that is reported on your credit report will be used to evaluate you when you apply for credit, insurance, employment, and other purposes allowed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Therefore it is crucial that you review your credit reports for accuracy from at least annually.

Why is it important to monitor your credit report

By monitoring your credit report you will save yourself a lot of problems or unpleasant surprises when you have to get that credit card or if you’re considering buying a home. You will also be aware of any potential problems that may stop the credit grantor from approving you for the credit you seek. Knowing exactly what a lender will see when they pull your credit will allow you either try to dispute the items and have them removed from your report or prepare explanations for the credit problems and discuss them with your potential lender BEFORE you apply for that line of credit.

What to do if you find inaccurate information

- Be meticulous in examining your credit information. If you see any discrepancies, verify them as soon as possible. The law says that the credit bureau should examine the matter within a reasonable amount of time, usually 30 days.

- Dispute inaccurate information your credit report. Some credit repair specialist suggests you dispute items one at a time. Some say do it all at once. I have had clients that have done both, and there was never any one way that was more successful then the other in our case. I truly believe it depends on the agent you get at the credit bureau.

- Write an ORIGINAL dispute letter. Don’t just copy a form you found online. If you found it, then so did potentially hundreds if not thousands of other people. The agents at the credit bureaus in the disputes area have probably seen any freely given online dispute letter hundreds if not thousands of times. They will not take your request as seriously as they should if you do this.

The credit bureau is required to investigate and if that item cannot be confirmed within a reasonable amount of time, that credit record must be removed from the credit file. They must provide you with a free copy of your corrected credit report. Send your dispute letter to the credit bureau via certified mail, return receipt requested. If you are using a credit monitoring system you can do this online. Just make sure they send your dispute to all 3 agencies. If the credit bureau completes its investigation and decides that the negative information should remain in your file, you can add a letter of explanation to your credit report to refute the claim.



STERLING

Mike asked:


I am a business owner and I am trying to find a reasonably priced business credit report service. We were using the DNBI service last year. Then DNBI wanted to increase our price by 300% and we had no choice, but to let the service expire.
Any ideas for a low cost business credit report provider?

JEFF

seanhazen asked:


We are an outsourced call center providing service support to a debt counsellor. We require a method to pull credit reports on those customers that ask for their services. We are looking for a legitimate pay service that is reliable, quick, complete and cost effective.

DONNELL

Lee Beattie asked:


Credit Report Basics

The Credit Reporting Agencies work with lenders, creditors, insurers and employers to collect information from them and share it with companies with whom you desire to do business. Here’s an instance of how the system works:

A) When you apply for newly credits the creditor petitions a copy of your financial history from at the least one credit reporting agency. This causes a “hard inquiry” to be recorded on your credit report.

B) The creditor utilizes your credit reports and scores along with income, debt and other information to set what rates to offer up to you.

C) You begin to utilize the new credit and the creditor reports your payment history to one or more of the credit reporting agencies every 30 day period.

D) The credit reporting agencies update your credit report as they obtain new information (positive and negative) from those of your creditors.

E) Your credit profile varies based on your financial activeness.

Your Credit Report And How It Is Broken Down

Your credit report is separated into six main sections:

1. personal information (name, date of birth, last reported address,

2. any previous addresses on file,

3. the name and address of your current employer,

4. any previous employers that have been reported as well as any consumer statements you add to your file); summary; inquiries; creditor contacts; account history; public information.                

5. When you open a new account, miss a payment or move, these sections are updated with new information.

6. The old information will stay on your credit report for several years.

Not all creditors report to each of the three agencies and the agencies don’t share their data so your credit reports from TransUnion, Equifax and Experian could be considerably different from each other. That’s why it’s important to look into your three credit reports every a couple of months to determine that the information is correct and up-to-date.

Constantly Check For Inaccuracies That Demand To Be Corrected

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumers are protected from having faulty information on their credit reports. If you find an incorrect record on your credit report, many identity protection agencies supply you with the tools and information to assist you in disputing it. Verify the disputing section on those sites for less told information about disputing details on your credit report. You can likewise dispute the inaccuracy direct with the credit reporting agencies.

Make Sure To Be Diligent

I recommend that you verify your credit reports every 3-6 months in order to defend against inaccuracies and identity theft. Routine check-ups along with paying your bills on time, preserving your credit card balances below 50% of their limits and rectifying any inaccuracies may serve you to maintain a healthy credit profile.

If you would like more information on this topic and want Fast Credit Repair or if you are in need of Free Credit Repair, Beatlands Credit Repair has many credit repair topics and tips that can be very useful.



TRENTON