 |
 |
Credit
Score
How To Get Your Credit Score For FreeFor many Americans who are looking into paying for that dream house or that new set of wheels, one of the most important things to consider before filing a loan is their credit report. The truth of the matter is many people are aware that could now get a free credit report. However, only a small number of them know how to obtain one. As opposed to what a lot of people probably think, getting a free credit report is actually a cakewalk. Gone are the days when consumers would have to wait in line or spend hours on the phone before they can get a hold of their credit report. With the technological advantage of Internet, one can gain access to his credit report just by a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. Best of all, these credit reports come for free -- a privilege granted by the US government to every consumer. The accessibility of credit reports is made possible by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT), a bill which was passed on December 4, 2003 by the US Congress. This act, which is sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission or FTC, allows every consumer to obtain a free credit report once in a period of twelve months. Similarly, the FACT also ensures the privacy and accuracy of the information that the various credit reporting companies hold. Under this act, the FTC, together with the three credit reporting companies namely Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, have set up a website where people can log on to check out their annual credit scores. According to the FTC, there are three ways a consumer can obtain his credit report. The first one is by visiting the FTC's authorized website, AnnualCreditReport.com, and providing all the information needed to access the credit report. This is generally the fastest way to obtain one's credit report. Consumers have to be cautious, however, of the supposedly free credit reports they see offered on unauthorized websites. More often than not, the services offered on these sites are not entirely for free. Those who want to get credit reports should keep in mind that they can only get them for free from the website FTC provided. Another way to obtain free credit report is by calling the toll-free number provided by the FTC and the three leading credit reporting companies. However, FTC warns consumers not to contact the three credit reporting companies individually. This might be caused by the fact that the credit reports obtained by individually contacting the three major credit reporting companies come with a fee. Apart from a toll-free number, consumers who want to get a free credit report can do so by filling out an Annual Credit Report Request Form, which can be printed from FTC's website. Some of the information that a consumer may be required to provide in the form include his name, Social Security number, address, and birth date. After completing the form, the consumer may send it to the Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The good thing about obtaining a free credit report from FTC is that they provide information on how a person can fix any inaccuracy he may have encountered in his report. Aside from being free, the credit report acquired from FTC is usually accurate and up to date. Those who want detailed information on how they can obtain free credit reports can check out the FTC's official website. By Jason James LewisAuthor Jason James Lewis writes and edits Daily Credit Card Blog at http://www.dailycreditcardblog.com Visitors can get free news, articles and advice on credit cards, their credit score and personal financial management.
How To Raise a Credit Score Quickly With 5 Easy StepsBuilding a good credit score and maintaining it is, in essence, a long-term process. The best ways to raise credit score expect that you stay financially organized and learn to manage your debts wisely. No doubt, that developing good financial habits consequently helps to raise credit score. But if you’re planning to buy a house in the near future and you discover that you need only a few extra points to get better interest rates, you want to raise credit score ASAP. You should keep in mind that in the world of credit scores, nothing happens overnight. Even when using the quickest methods to raise credit score, it takes some time for the changes to appear on your credit report. But the sooner you take action, the sooner your score will start to grow. So, here’s what you can do raise your credit score quickly. 1. Get your credit report and credit score. You have the right to obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the major consumer reporting agencies (i.e. credit bureaus): Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You should get all three reports, because they may differ a bit. Your credit score is a calculation based on the information on your credit report. Different companies have different formulas for calculating the score, but the credit score most commonly used is FICO score. On their website, you can make a request to get your current score. This is the first step on your journey to raise credit score. Your next step is to… 2. Examine your credit reports carefully and search for inaccurate information. The first time you see your credit report, you may be amazed how much information about you it actually contains. Unfortunately, not all of this information is correct. Research has actually shown that 25-50% of credit reports contain errors. One reason why these errors occur is that you may be mistaken for someone with the same name as you, and this other person’s data ends up in your report. Another, and a much more serious cause of erroneous data is identity theft. So, if you spot outdated, incomplete or totally strange information, the next thing to do is to… 3.Determine the cause of inaccuracies on your credit report.If you think the credit bureau has you mixed up with someone else, first make sure they have your full name spelled correctly. Also check if your social security number on the credit report is correct. Look at the address, too – if your current address differs from the one on your report, it may cause confusion. If you do find errors like this, contact the credit bureaus to sort it out immediately. In case you notice strange accounts or payments on your report and you suspect you may be a victim of identity fraud, contact the police, as well as your creditors and credit bureaus. 4.Contact credit bureaus to dispute errors on your report Besides the errors in your personal data, your credit report may show late payments that actually were paid on time, closed accounts still listed as open, outstanding debts that you have paid off, and so on. If such mistakes occur, the credit bureaus are obliged to investigate and correct them. First you have to send them a dispute letter, where you point out the errors you believe your credit report contains. Free samples of dispute letters are available on the Internet. Add copies of relevant documents to support your claim. Credit bureaus have to investigate the inaccurate information in 30 business days and delete the errors. If the credit bureau can’t verify the negative information within this time, it has to be deleted, too. If your report gets corrected, you have the right to get a free copy of it. You can also ask the credit bureau to send your corrected report to anyone who has inquired your records in past 6 months. Be sure to make copies of the letters you send to credit bureaus and the ones you receive! 5. Start paying your bills on time and pay off outstanding debt without closing old accounts. In addition to disputing errors in your report, these two methods can raise credit score most quickly. Late payments that were made years ago don’t affect your credit score as much as the recent ones. Automate your bank payments and get organized, and may raise credit score within a few months. You also may gain this delightful result if you pay off your outstanding debt. If you decide to pay off your loan, don’t close the account. Here’s the reason behind this advice. Using a lower percentage of total credit available to you raises your score, but if you close a credit account, your total available credit decreases. Hence, if you shut down the account, you may still be close to maxing out your credit – which decreases your score. If just a few missing credit points hinder you from getting better interest rates, following the tips above may solve your problem relatively quickly. If two or three months still is too long for you to wait, there are other legal options to raise credit score quickly. By Terry Pice
Terry Pice is a financial expert and business consultant. Click here to read more tips from Terry about: * How to raise your credit score up to 249 points in 90 days * How to get a free copy of all 3 of your credit reports * How to delete negative items off your credit report * Two things you need to know before calling any credit counseling or debt consolidation company * A neat little trick people have used to double their credit card limits with 2 phone calls * How to legally get up to 20 years of excellent credit history added to your credit report in less than 45 days http://ClickHereForMore.info/HowToRaiseYourCreditScoreTips/
|