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Credit
Improve that Credit Score
By Diane Palmer It can happen to anyone, and I mean anyone!.. You finally pay the last payment on that annoying credit card or bill, you are so proud of yourself!, you cut up the A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (F.C.R.A.) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. Although your credit score is generally not included in the free annual credit report that is available from the website annualcreditreport, they do state that you can purchase your credit score from any of the three credit reporting agencies by contacting them individually or you can purchase them from annualcreditreport when ordering your annual credit reports through their website. Either way you are paying a fee in order to obtain each reporting agency's valuation of your credit score. What the website annualcreditreport does not tell you is that you are able to obtain your free credit score from each of the three agencies along with a free annual credit report by signing up with special programs being offered by the three agencies. These programs are connected with a monitoring service being offered by these agencies, and people who sign up for these programs are given a free credit report along with a no-cost credit score just for signing up during a no-cost 30 day trial period. If you are ever dissatisfied with the service, you can cancel anytime within the 30 day period without incurring any service fees. This means that essentially you are able to obtain your free annual credit score along with the federally mandated annual free credit report by trying out their service. As long as you cancel the trial service within the 30 day period, you will not be charged any fees. You must be careful though when signing up for one of these programs in order to obtain your free credit score as there are other companies, which may or may not be scrupulous, advertising these same services and benefits. If you are tempted to use one of these services in order to obtain your free credit score, keep in mind that many of these companies are not as interested in getting you your report as much as they are getting hold of your information. Just be aware that the company you are signing up with is one of these three agencies and not a separate company. Why is it important to obtain your credit score along with your credit reports from all three reporting agencies? Because this gives you the opportunity to see the differences in credit scoring as well as to check through each credit report for erroneous items. If you can successfully dispute an item on a credit report, that item must by law be removed from your report, thus allowing your credit score to rise. The reporting agency is given 30 days to resolve disputed items. If an agency cannot successfully validate a disputed item, then the item must be removed from your report. There are some occasions on which you are allowed to request a free credit report and score from the credit reporting agency used by a company. If you fall under any of the following categories, you are allowed to request to see the credit report if a company denies you credit, insurance, or employment (if this was a part of your employment application) provided you request a report within 60 days of this denial. * You have been denied credit in the past 60 days * You are unemployed * You are on welfare * You believe your credit report contains inaccurate and unverified information
card, wash your hands of it and you think you are done. Then maybe you change addresses a couple of times, and you don't get that final notice from them about a couple of dollars in interest charges they feel you still owe them. They don't bother trying to track you down for a few dollars, so they wait for you to find them, by parking this unpaid bill on your credit report. Only you don't know about this, and a few months or years down the road, you go to buy a new car or get a mortgage on that new house, only to find you are not getting the best interest rates as promised. They tell you in a whisper, that your credit score is a bit low.. and therefore you can't have the best interest rates. Now what?.... You get a copy of your credit report, and you see this unpaid bill, even maybe one that is not even yours... (it can happen, human error etc) and now you try to dispute or at least pay this unpaid bill. You can't seem to find any of your last statements from then, and they are not being the most co-operative, only talking to you during working hours, and you are very busy with your job and family, and this problem just keeps on going! I know this sounds like a broken record, but you have to get on top of this, pay the outstanding bill if you do owe it, and dispute the ones you don't or you will for ever have this report following you when you make big purchases that require a loan. Better yet, if you just can't deal with it, get someone who can.. There are companies out there now, that will help you get back on track, they will work for you, while you continue on with daily living, and will get you back on track, so that you get those best interest rates, in the end this could save you thousands of dollars, and will be worth their fee in the end. Get a copy of your credit report periodically and make sure it is OK.. Simple errors can be fixed, just don't wait until you need a loan! My bank accidentally put 5 mortgages on my credit report, that were not even mine!! I showed them, they were embarrassed and removed them.. but sometimes you need help, so get it now, don't end up paying for someone else's mistake, with higher interest rates or even a loan refusal. credit repair article by Diane Palmer, who has over 15 years running her own craft business. Get more free tips on making & saving money by visiting www.rs39.com |
