When you are preparing to apply for a loan, you may wish to know what is on your credit report. After receiving your copy, you may be surprised to find that it does not contain your credit score. Even without the score, these reports can be quite helpful in understanding your financial health.
How to Get a Report
By law, you are entitled to receive a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, each year. The law requires the bureaus to give you a copy of your history, but not your score. They do not include the score in hope that you will choose to purchase it. To receive the free copy, visit annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228 to make your request. You cannot request the free copies directly from the credit bureaus. You will need your Social Security number, date of birth and addresses for the past two years to request this copy.
What Report Contains
Your credit report contains four main types of information: identifying information, credit information, public record information and recent inquiries. The identifying information contains your name, contact information, previous addresses, Social Security numbers, past employers and the year of birth. The credit information shows your current and past accounts and loans with nongovernment entities, any payment patterns or charge-offs. The public record information shows bankruptcy, judgments and liens against your estate. Finally, the recent inquiries section shows one to two years' of credit report inquiries. The last three sections are combined to create a credit score but it will not be listed in your free report.
How to Use Reports
Even without the score, your credit report gives you a good idea of how potential lenders will view your creditworthiness. You can look at your credit report to see if there are any major credit problems potential lenders will see. You can also check for errors. If you notice errors, contact the credit bureau and the entity that reported the erroneous information to the credit bureau in writing, asking them to remove the error. You must have documentation that shows you are not responsible for the account. The credit bureau must investigate your request within 30 days. You must also ask the creditor to provide proof of the disputed reported item. If it cannot furnish this proof, it cannot report that information again.
How to Get Your Score
Sometimes knowing your score is important, particularly when a lender considers you a borderline case. If you need your score, you can pay the credit bureaus for access to it. You can also get a free copy of your score by signing up for credit monitoring services through each of the credit bureaus or a third-party company. To make this free, find a company that offers a free initial month. Sign up for the service, get your score and then cancel the service before your credit card is charged.
0 comments:
Post a Comment