Posts Tagged ‘Credit Score’

Did You Know That Your Three Bureau Credit Report Can Prevent You From Obtaining Credit?

March 30th, 2011
Donald Saunders asked:




You have probably heard the expression ‘three bureau credit report’ but have you ever wondered just what it is and why it is important?

Within the United States the three major credit bureau companies are Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. Each of these private companies keeps a credit file on you containing personal information (such as your name, address and details of your employment); details of your payment history on credit card accounts, mortgages, car loans and other loan agreements; details of any public records concerning your finances (such as notices of bankruptcy and court judgments) and details of any inquires made to the company by creditors concerning your financial standing.

In addition to the credit file maintained on you, each company also uses its own formula to calculate a credit score for you which is designed to give potential lenders an indication of your credit worthiness and therefore of the risk that they would be taking if they were to grant you a loan or extend credit to you.

It is important to understand that these three companies all operate independently of each other and so the information held by each, and the credit score calculated by each, may well differ. In general, most major lenders, such as banks and credit card companies, furnish information to all three companies but many smaller lenders, such as local department stores which issue their own store cards, may well only provide information to one of the three companies.

You are entitled to request a copy of your credit report from each of these companies once a year free of charge and more frequently if you wish for a fee. However, to make life slightly easier it is also possible to obtain a three bureau credit report which allows you to view the contents of all three credit reports in a single document.

So, why is this important?

The contents of your credit report files will determine whether or not you are able to obtain credit in the future perhaps to buy a house, a new car or help to fund a child’s college education. What could be worse than applying for a loan to buy your new dream home only to find that you are turned down because of your credit history?

Building and maintaining a good credit history should be an essential part of your overall financial planning throughout life and this means ensuring that you have the best possible credit report on file with each of the three credit bureau companies.

Your starting point should therefore be to obtain a three bureau credit report and check that the information currently recorded is correct. Companies do make mistakes and it is not unknown for people with good financial standing to have a poor credit score because of errors on their credit report files. You should therefore check the report carefully and take steps to correct any inaccuracies to make sure that your credit files are accurate.

Having established that your credit history is accurate, or taken steps to correct any errors, you should then work to achieve the best possible credit score and, most importantly, keep an eye on your credit history be requesting copies of your three bureau credit report at regular intervals.

Irene
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Three Major Credit Bureau

March 24th, 2011
Tarron Acuff asked:




The three major credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and keep information on your credit history. If you don’t have any credit it should say is that the report does not exist because no credit has been established. If they do have credit established, it will tell you what is on your report. If you should ever see something on your report that looks like fraud, Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file.

You may request free credit reports once a year from all three major credit bureaus. Your credit score is a number given to you by the three major credit bureau agencies that reflects your credit profile. At first, it would seem as though your credit score would be the same at all three major credit bureau companies, but in fact all three scores can be different. Credit scores are improved by having the right type of credit, showing responsible use and not having too much credit.

Let’s say, find that some information in your credit report that is incorrect, you may to dispute that information to have it corrected. To file a dispute, you have to attach a copy of your credit report and mark the incorrect items. You most likely will have to prove that the information is false. You should mail the dispute letter as certified mail and always keep copies for yourself. Just like most data you need to have a backup in case you would need to prove what you had sent. Your letter should include your complete name and address, clearly identify each item you dispute, explain why you dispute the information, and request deletion or correction.

Cynthia
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Understanding The Three Credit Report Companies

March 19th, 2011
Jared Wright asked:




Credit report companies offer their services to people who need to get their credit score and other information about their financial status. A credit report is required when you apply for a loan such as a home mortgage, and may also be required when you want to apply for a credit card. There are credit reports for individuals, and there are also some reports which are made to evaluate the statuses of companies.

Credit report companies are also known as credit bureaus. There are three major credit report companies, which are the Equifax Credit Bureau, the TransUnion Credit Bureau, and the Experian Credit Bureau. These companies collect different information from creditors, which are then used to generate reports that are sold to their clients.

A credit report is a valuable document in the sense that it includes information which may grant or deny loan approval, employment, licensing, insurance and other business needs. Individuals and businesses alike are dependent on their credit scores and report to help in evaluating their current financial standing.

Some information which is available from credit companies includes the following:

• Identification. Credit report companies have consumer details such as name, employer, address, name of spouse and the company or employer of the spouse.

• Credit history. This includes accounts which are active, including the account numbers, the date when the accounts where opened, the payments and other activities made for it, balances, amounts that were paid in the past, and how often payment was late. These are all bases for a low credit score, meriting a lender ground for denying you of a loan.

• Derogatory items. These include risks which may affect the lender or the company which will deal with the other party. Judgments, suits, bankruptcies and tax liens may prevent you from getting approved for a loan.

• Inquiries. Companies or individuals may have asked for your information, such as banks and financial institutions which have required your bank details. You will be given information about the inquiries which happened in the last 18 months only.

Credit report companies update your information regularly so that their database is updated and is relevant. Lenders can access your information to help them decide whether or not you can be trusted with a loan or a new credit card. You can also access your own credit score by logging in to the website of the three credit bureaus mentioned above so you can monitor your finances as closely as you need.

Hector
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Free Annual Credit Report – 3 Reasons to Get One

March 17th, 2011
Scott Lovingood asked:




Managing your credit history is a very important step in creating wealth in your life. A good bit of it is based on handling your money and credit correctly. The other part though is how it gets reported as well.

Every person in the US has a credit history. For some people it is blank. They don’t have a record yet of how they handle history. For some people it could fill a large volume of encyclopedias. Now the question becomes is your credit history accurate?

The US government requires the major credit bureaus to provide a copy of your credit history for free once a year. That is why you will often hear people talk about the free annual credit report.

It isn’t the same as your credit score though. It is important to realize that your credit score is still tough to determine as each company calculates them differently.

The three major credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Think of them as giant record keepers. They get reports from credit card companies, auto loans, mortgage loans, and other areas. Not every company reports to all three. Some will only report your information to one or two of them.

There are three main reasons to get a copy of your free annual credit report. We will discuss each of them in more detail below.

Inaccuracies Identify Theft Forgotten Credit Lines

Inaccuracies can riddle your credit report. The systems involved in collecting this information is not perfect. It is very possible that information is reported to the company incorrectly. For example your credit card company can report that you had a card be placed into collections. It can happen from an employee mistyping information into a computer program.

It is also possible that someone else’s credit is being sent under your identity. I have a friend whose name is the same as her sister in law. They share first and last names but have different middle names. When she went to apply for a loan on a home, they were very confused by her credit history. They lived in different states, had different jobs, and different financial histories. The credit bureaus had mixed them up in places.

It took a while to get everything corrected so she could purchase her home. Getting a copy will allow you to find these errors quickly and get them corrected.

Identify Theft is a growing problem in the world. Getting a copy of your credit history can allow you to find out if someone has stolen your personal information. The credit bureaus will show any credit that is opened in your name. By checking it on a regular basis you can prevent this. You can also request that they put a freeze on your credit. This prevents anyone from opening credit in your name. Just remember to take it off when you get ready to apply for credit.

Forgotten credit lines may not sound like a big deal but they can be. It is not a good idea to have credit lines floating around. I found a couple of store credit cards on my report that I had completely forgotten about. I had gotten them when I was much younger and establishing my credit.

I kept the credit lines but requested that they be frozen. I didn’t want to remove them as they would impact my credit score. I also didn’t want to leave them laying around in case someone got the information and started using them.

Jon
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What Your Credit Report Means

March 13th, 2011
William M Springer asked:




Each year, every American is entitled to a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus. Unfortunately, few people know what to look for, or how to fix it when something goes wrong. What does your credit report mean to you?

First off, realize that your free credit report does not include your credit score; however, it does include all of the information that score is based on. For a few dollars more, you can purchase the score as well. The different credit bureaus may have slightly different information, because not all creditors report to all three bureaus; there is no law requiring that this information be reported. Additionally, each one has their own formula for calculating your score, so your credit scores will differ even if the credit report information is the same.

Your credit score is a number between 300 and 850; almost nobody is at the very top or bottom of the scale. Your goal should be to have a score over 800, but anything over 720 should enable you to get credit at some of the best rates.

Your credit score is based on a number of factors, such as the average length of time your credit accounts have been open, whether you pay your bills on time, and the utilization ratio (that is, what percentage of your available credit you’re using – lower is better). Because a lower credit score can cost you thousands of dollars per year, you should always watch for and remove any inaccurate information; fortunately, this is easy to do.

Ruben
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3 Types of Free Credit Bureau Reports Explained

March 12th, 2011
Francine Denson asked:




There some confusion out there when it comes to free credit reports. You have likely seen the many articles that are floating around that state that you can get your free credit report, but just what does a free credit report consist of? In this article will will look at the differences in the 3 different types of credit reports advertised and learn more about which one is the most beneficial to have.

Type #1) Single Credit Bureau Report

One type of credit report is one where you can get a report from only one of the three bureaus. These three bureaus are Equifax, Trans Union and Experian; most of the time with this type of report you will have to choose one of these companies to get your report from. This may not help you very much because each of the three bureaus differs a bit in the content they report. You would probably benefit more from a 3-1.

Usefulness: C-

Type #2) 3-1 Credit Report

A 3-1 report would include a report from each of the three bureaus. The advantage to this is you get all three reports. The downside is that you get only one score from one bureau. It would be more sensible to receive all three of the bureaus scores. Mortgage companies look at the three scores and usually go by the one in the middle. I would only be logical to see what they see if you are attempting to get a loan.

Usefulness: B

Type #3) 3-1 Credit Report With Credit Scores

This brings us to the third type. This is the 3-1 credit report that included all three scores. This is the best offer there is due to the fact that this is what lenders look at. You will want to ensure that you know what you are getting when you request a credit report.

Usefulness: A+

Every consumer is entitled to one free report from each of the three bureaus annually, but this does not include a credit score. By using the services of on of the popular online free credit report sites, you can get instant access to not only your credit reports but your credit scores as well. You would be best off off obtaining a 3-1 with all three scores so you can have a clear view of what lenders are looking at when deciding whether or not to approve your loan.

Victor
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Free Credit Report Service Recommended by Clark Howard

March 11th, 2011
Lyn Collier asked:




You don’t have to sign up for a trial membership of a credit protection service to get free copies of your credit reports. There a few one-stop websites where you can order credit reports from all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. It’s easy. One site, Annual Credit Report, is even recommended by Consumer advocate Clark Howard as well as the Consumer Credit Counseling Service.

By the way, your “credit report” is not the same thing as your “credit score.” The reports will give your credit activity only – not your FICO score. The FICO score is a number that is generated using info from all three agencies. It is a product of Fair Isaac Credit Org. (FICO) and must be purchased – $15.95

When you get to the site and start clicking around to request your free report, a few things might concern you. The main thing…and it is kind of unavoidable is the request for you to enter your Social Security number. If you have strong reservations about entering your SS number online, you can just skip the rest of the article and look up the 800 number and do the transaction on the phone. But either way, you will to have to provide your social security number.

Back to the online request. At some point during your online request for a free credit report , each bureau will try to sell you their products. Stay focused.

Here is the protocol for Experian for example: (and they are all pretty much alike so I will spare you the details on the other 2)

Step 1 on the Experian site will offer to sell you your Experian credit score for $5.95. Each bureau assigns a score, but their scores do not represent your FICO score.The FICO score is the one that most creditors use. I don’t recommend buying a credit score from anyone other than FICO. it’s the only one that counts. When asked if you want to purchase your “Experian” score, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “No thanks, I just want my free annual credit report.”

You will cruise through the steps pretty quickly. The only time you might have a problem is if you don’t answer the identification verification questions correctly. If you answer incorrectly you will be given a toll-free number to call where your i.d. can be verified manually.

Once you are done on the Experian site, you will be prompted to return to the Annual Credit Report site and continue with the other credit bureaus.

All the sites will walk you through the same process offering to sell you their products along the way. Remember, your goal is to get free credit reports, not buy stuff. Follow the prompts and you will instantly get your three credit reports free of charge.

Susan
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The cheapest place to get 3 credit report and score on montly basis?

March 10th, 2011
Mentiso asked:


freecreditrepot.com and myfico.com charge $38.95/month. Is there any other site that will give me all my scores and report for a cheaper monthly rate.

I have already gone to AnnualCreditReport.com and got my credit report.

Leon

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Free Copy Of Credit Report

March 8th, 2011
Thomas Morva asked:




A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) obligates the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union – to provide a free credit report to any consumer who requests it.

The importance of a credit report cannot be ignored. An accurate report can help you obtain loans for major purchases, or even help you rent an apartment. All this, and more, becomes difficult if you have negative errors in your report.

A negative report can prove to be an obstacle if you are job hunting. This is because most employers will go through your credit history before offering employment. If you are actually employed, then a negative report can reduce your chances for further promotion. And, what if the end of it you realize that these errors were because of no fault of yours and that they could have been sorted out in the first place. You can avoid this situation by ordering a free credit report.

Once you get it, make sure the information provided in it is correct. This means that you must verify that your personal details such as your name, address, date of birth, and also the name of your current employer are correct. When this is done, do a check on your financial status. This is because your report will also contain information of your bank accounts, loans, credit payments. In other words, your credit card is also in a way your financial statement on which your future transactions will depend.

If you find any discrepancies, file a report in writing, with any one of the consumer reporting companies, for action. Apart from providing you with the opportunity to verify your accounts and check your credit score, these reports also provide a listing of the companies who have made enquiries on your reports.

These consumer reporting companies sell this information to bankers, creditors, insurers, employers and other business houses. It is imperative to order a free copy to ensure that there are no inaccuracies or errors in your report.

Fred
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Free Credit Report Credit Score Services Online – Do They Exist?

March 8th, 2011
asked:




Kathy
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