How to Review Your Credit

When you charge a purchase, apply for a loan, move or obtain insurance, your transaction information is recorded. Consumer reporting agencies track this record in a credit file, which is used to determine your creditworthiness. Good credit makes it easy for you to get a mortgage, rent a car or sign up for public utilities, among other tasks. Bad credit can put these common transactions out of reach. You can easily review your credit for accuracy.

Instructions

1

Request your free annual credit report through the link listed in resources. This is the only government-authorized link for obtaining free credit reports. By law, you can request this report once every 12 months for free from each agency.

2

Print the summary of the report or write down the report number, so you can access your report again in the future. You can review different sections of your credit by clicking such links as "Accounts in Good Standing" or "Requests for Your Credit History." If you'd rather see all your information at once, click "Print Your Report" on the upper left to display the report. Then click the "Print Report" button to print your report. Note that this example uses the Experian report. Actual section titles and commands differ by reporting agency.

3

Check to ensure that your personal information is current and up-to-date. If you are unfamiliar with your rights regarding credit, read the "Know Your Rights" section. Be sure and click the link related to your state as well, so you'll be familiar with any credit laws specific to your location.

4

Concentrate your review under "Accounts in Good Standing." Make sure that all the accounts listed are actually ones you are familiar with. If you notice company names that you are unfamiliar with, someone may have opened accounts under your name. If an active account of yours is missing from the list, then the consumer reporting agency may have accidentally deleted that account. It's also possible that a company may have closed your account because it received negative information about you or it made a clerical error. Closed accounts can negatively affect your credit rating.

5

Look under each account to verify that the balances, scheduled payment amounts and actual amounts paid match your records.

If the amounts listed are higher than what is listed in your paper records, then someone may have stolen your account numbers and used them for their purposes. If the amounts are lower than what is listed in your payment records, then company with your account may have a computer or clerical error.

Make sure that payments are not reported as late, if you have paid them on time. Late payments can negatively affect your credit rating.

6

Check the "Requests for Your Credit History" for the finance companies that have asked about your credit. They do so to send you offers for credit cards, bank accounts and loans. These inquiries do not affect your credit rating and are generally nothing to worry about. However, if you feel that these requests are excessive, or you do not want these offers, you can opt out of them by informing all the credit reporting agencies at 1-888-567-8688.

7

Report any discrepancies immediately. Contact the agency directly. Its phone number and address is usually listed on the first page of the report. If you suspect that someone is illegally using your name or account numbers, you can put a "fraud alert" on your file. The initial alert stays in your file for at least 90 days. An extended alert remains for at least seven years.

Contact the credit card, bank or other financial company that issued your account. You must inform them as soon as possible to limit any liability for fraudulent activity. It may put a hold on your account as it investigates. In many cases, it may change your account numbers to avoid further illegal activity.