By HILARY JOHNSON
HOW TO GET YOUR CREDIT REPORT
To obtain your credit report, you have several options. If you have never obtained a credit report in the past, or have not done so in the last 12 months, your first stop should be a visit to each of the three credit reporting companies:
TransUnion: http://www.transunion.com/
Equifax: http://www.equifax.com/home/
Experian: http://www.experian.com/
Visit each company’s website. There, you can request a free credit report. Recently, laws in the United States changed to require that each of the credit reporting agencies to provide consumers with one free company of their credit report each year.
The reason for this is that it is an estimate that more than 80 percent of credit reports have errors or missing information on them.
Think about what that means: 80 percent of people may be paying too much in interest, may not qualify for loans they deserve or may even be turned down for a job because they have a poor credit score, through no fault of their own.
Once you get your credit report cleaned up, it is highly recommended that you invest the time in getting a free credit report at least one time per year from each of these companies to ensure that no errors are present. If you would like to avoid paying for additional credit reports, obtain a credit report from one of the credit bureaus every four months. This way, you do not have to pay for the credit report but get the latest information reported there.
Already Done So?
Perhaps you have already obtained your credit report in the recent past. To get another one, you may need to pay for it. Most often, copies of your credit report are available for under $20, though it may be slightly more if you would like to see your actual credit score.
You can purchase the credit report from each of the credit bureaus directly. There are other companies selling these, but monitor the security and the overall cost. You may be able to get a credit report for much less, if you go directly to the credit bureau for it.
The first time you obtain your credit report for the goal of cleaning it up, it is important to obtain a company of the report from each of the three credit bureaus. As mentioned earlier, later on, you may not need to do this since most information will be the same from each of the lenders. Right now, you need to clean up the credit information on all three reports to ensure that your best foot is forward when it comes to credit usage.
WHAT’S ON YOUR REPORT?
Once you get to the credit bureaus, you will need to work though the questions they ask. This is important since it is verifying that you are the person you say you are. Once this process is complete, you will be taken to an online version of your credit report. You cannot change information here directly but rather have to go through a specific reporting process.
Before you get excited to see your information, you will want to look for specific information.
Notice the number of accounts you have: The higher this number is, the more desperate you look to creditors. You do not want a high number.
Notice any delinquent notices or collections notices on your report. These are one of the most damaging pieces of information listed on the report.
Locate the credit card accounts listed. You may notice some that are very old, perhaps even your oldest credit cards. If they are good reports, for example, they are not reporting anything is in collections or overdue, leave them there! The longer you have had credit the more experience you have. It is a good thing to have older cards especially with good histories on your account. Do not remove these.
Locate the inquiries listed. Inquiries are reported whenever someone requests to see your credit report. There are two types. Some come directly from credit card companies and lenders who you have requested credit from. These are the most important to notice since these work against your credit score.
If you have too many inquiries listed, this could mean that you are again desperate for credit. It also drops your credit score. The second type is pre inquiries where lenders are considering offering you a line of credit. Since you have not requested credit from them, these types of inquiries do not count against you.
The credit report contains a wealth of information. Read through it and take notice of the individual accounts. You should notice each account listed, with information including the credit limit, the age of the account, the lender’s name and information and a few green (or other colored) boxes.
Each month you have the credit account, this box will change in color or mentions. For example, you may notice a streak of green boxes. This means that you have made your payment on time those months, with one box representing one month. These boxes trail back for two years before they disappear.
Take some time to look through the credit report. Most of these reports are very easy to navigate and they only take a few minutes to browse through. Each of the three credit agencies has also provided you with as much information as you need on the credit report. You may also find a section where the bureau is telling you why you have the marks you have or the credit score you have.
They may give you specific information on how to improve the credit score such as:
Too many delinquent accounts: making payments on time helps to improve your credit score
There are too many inquiries on your account
There are too few credit card accounts open
This is specific information directed at you. Definitely use this as a springboard telling you exactly what you need to do to see improvement in your credit score.