How To Get A Credit Report For Free
Keeping your credit reports up to date is as important as updating your bank accounts. This will avoid unwanted identity theft, information errors and credit report inaccuracies. If you do not have any clue on how to get a credit report, we will tell you you. But first let’s make sure that you know what a credit report is.
Credit reports contain information that is recorded from individuals or companies of their history in terms of borrowing and paying back money. This reports include when the payment was made, how much, late payments and issues of bankruptcy. All of this is recorded in one’s credit report.
It is a must to have a good credit history but since bad credit can’t always be avoided, there are also ways on how to fix your credit errors that was reported mistakenly.
There are three major reporting agencies in the United States namely Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They are the ones responsible for the collecting and recording of this said information.
Why do you need to get your credit report? The information derived from these reporting agencies, will be the basis of whether or not you can get a loan or if you will be approved for a credit card application. The denial of an application will be largely be based on your poor credit report and score.
You are entitled to check on your credit report, annually for free. How to get a credit report personally will be derived mainly from the free annual reports these three reporting agencies provide. To get the credit reports that you need, these agencies have one central website, a mailing address and toll free number where you can request your free annual reports.
You can actually request an annual report from each of these agencies at the same time, in that way, you will be able to compare each report for accuracy and correct information. A report requested through the website will be accessed immediately, while requests made through toll free numbers and mail order will come back to you within fifteen days.
On how get a credit report, you need to supply your full name, complete address and social security number. If there are changes to the information submitted within the past two years, remember to have it corrected to avoid errors. And you should always try to fix even small errors since, you never know what problems they could cause down the road.
Remember, once you’ve received your copy, it is best to have it checked and reviewed. There might be some entries that were not made by you or some other discrepancies. No one wants bad credit, especially if it was not done by you personally.
There are two possible ways on how to correct bad credit, that is to contact the credit reporting agency and file your complaint, or you can also contact the creditor as well. Either way, you need to have proof and copies that will serve as the basis for your complaint.
Being up to date with your credit reports and having the knowledge on how to get a credit report will be very helpful for you. If you don’t want those future loans to be a burden, keep track of your credit history.
Additional Resources:
The Federal Trade Commission’s Information on Free Annual Credit Reports