Understanding Credit Reports

By pyday | Nov 20, 2008
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Its important today to know where your credit score stands. With the credit market the way it is, it only makes sense to know your credit score so you can work to improve it if need be. Get a free credit report today and take a first step toward improving your credit. More info below.

Credit reports are often viewed with dread, especially when you find yourself with problems getting credit or managing your debt, but in fact they can be very helpful and useful tools not only for lenders but also for borrowers.

Most countries have a credit reporting system and in the United States credit reports are maintained by three major agencies – Equifax in Atlanta, Georgia; Experian in Allen, Texas and TransUnion in Chester, Pennsylvania.

A credit report is simply a history of the credit you have, or have had, going back over the past several years and includes details of everything from home and car loans to your credit card accounts. Entries on your credit history will show such things as when a loan was taken out, how much that loan was for and whether or not payments have been made on time and are currently up-to-date. The report will also list some personal information such as your current and previous addresses, telephone number and social security number.

The information contained in your credit report is then available to lenders such as banks, mortgage companies and credit card companies and, if you apply for further credit, a lender will use your credit history as the basis on which to make his lending decision.

One of the problems with credit reports is that, while every effort is made to ensure their accuracy, mistakes are made from time to time and it is possible that you might be refused credit because your credit report does not accurately reflect your credit history. This can be extremely annoying to say the least but there is action which you can take to correct this and, more importantly, to avoid it happening in the first place.

The law requires that, on request, you are provided with a copy of your credit report free of charge once a year and, as part of your own annual financial review, you should always ask for this free report. This gives you the opportunity to spot an error on your report and to ask for it to be corrected before it becomes a problem. Correcting an error is simply a matter of establishing proof of the error (for example a statement from a lender showing that a payment marked on your credit report as being late was in fact paid on time) and then sending this by registered mail to the credit agency with a request that they amend your record.

Another very good reason for requesting a copy of your credit report is that, if you have been having debt problems, it can give you a very good basis on which to build a plan to not only clear your debt but also to re-build your credit history. Although just how you go about this is beyond the scope of this particular article, there is a very strict timetable for recording debt on your credit report and your report will point to debts which you should clear first and to others which can be put to the bottom of your list.

If you have never seen a copy of your credit report then you should request your free three bureau credit report package today. You might be surprised at just what you can learn from it and how helpful it can be in planning your future requests for credit.

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1 Comment so far
  1. EastonA January 20, 2009 10:12 am

    Credit cards are very useful if it is used wisely and not regularly. Although we used to spend through credit, credit reports should still be presented accordingly. On these days ahead that financial crisis is being experience by the country, we must spend money wisely for the sake of our future. A payday loan can help a great deal when something unexpected takes a toll on your budget. But if you know how to save extra money on your household expenses, your chances of needing a payday loan will significantly decrease. I found a very interesting article on the payday loan blog at PersonalMoneyStore.com explaining how to save on your biggest monthly household expense, your food bill! The article covered a few interesting topics such as buying in bulk, shopping off a planned list and then only once a month, comparison shopping, and weekly advertisements. Of course shopping and saving money this way involves a little insight and practical financial planning. You can even create a variety of delectable meals around cheaper staples such as beans, rice, and pasta and still have extra cash in your pocket. If you are aware of these smart saving techniques and practice them on a daily basis, you will not only become better at budgeting, but you will come to find out how much money you can easily save on your household expenses. You can read more on this article on the payday loan money blog at PersonalMoneyStore.com.

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