Matt Murren asked:




If you have had credit problems in the past, you might want to consider catalogs with instant credit as a way to improve your credit rating. These catalogs claim to be able to help you because they assist you in lowering your credit utilization score (which is the ratio of your outstanding credit to your available credit.) And, if you are like many other Americans, you likely are unable to pay down your outstanding debt. So, the only way to lower your credit utilization score is to raise your total available credit by getting credit somewhere.

Unless you are able to obtain new credit cards, there aren’t too many options available for you. One option, however, is to find a catalog that offers you instant credit. As you can guess, you will be expected to purchase items from the catalog in order to get your “instant” credit. One caution, however. Make sure that the catalog company is willing to report your account to the major credit bureaus. This is essential if you are looking for ways to improve your credit score.

There is a chance that you will be denied instant credit with certain catalog companies. But, if you are approved, you will be issued an approval or account number to be used when you place your order. You’ll be able to shop immediately because you won’t have to wait for a credit card to arrive in the mail. Many Catalog companies invite you to apply online where you will be issued your account number. Their websites will enable you to check your balance, place orders and make payments online. They also have customer service representatives available via phone to assist you with billing questions and other problems.

Catalogs with instant credit make it easier for the average American to buy items now and pay for them later. Of course, as in any borrowing situation, caution should be used before “charging” anything. A realistic approach needs to be taken, with the goal of improving your credit score being your number 1 priority. Don’t charge so much that you can’t make the monthly payments. This will only make your credit score worse!

Marian

Tim Gorman asked:




Even though everyone in United States now has a right to obtain a free credit report annually from each of the three main credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, there is still considerable doubt among consumers as to whether they can get a credit report without having a credit card.

In fact having a credit card is not required to get your credit report. Everyone is free to have a look at his financial records without any charge whatsoever once a year. This is mandated by law. However many (in fact almost all) of online credit report providers that offer free credit card reports use credit cards as a method to verify the identity. This is one of the main reasons for the confusion. Consumers should be wary of using such services and they must go through the small print.

In any case there is no need for a credit card to obtain your free credit report and you can bypass the need to go through other online sites when you can obtain the credit report from the legally mandated source site. All you have to do is to visit the central website maintained by the three main credit bureaus to provide the free credit reports according to the provisions of The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT). This website is named annualcreditreport.com and once you complete the form there, you can almost immediately see your credit report.

You will be asked for proof of identity but it will not be your credit card. You will be asked to provide your name, address, date of birth, and social security number. If you have changed residence you will be asked to provide previous address. In addition the credit bureau from which you requested the report will ask you to answer a question, the answer to which only you may know. Questions may change from one bureau to another, but they will most likely comprise employment history, previous addresses or telephone numbers.

You can also request your free credit report through the toll free telephone number or through the mailing address provided by the three credit bureaus. Using that method you will get the report within 15 days of the request.

Federal Trade Commissions which mandated the law for receiving your annual credit report free of charge has given notice that only one website has the authority to provide your free annual credit report. That website is annualcreditreport.com. They also warn of other websites that offer free credit reports, but with the catch of having to signup for credit monitoring. It should be noted that the only true way of receiving your report without having to register for other services is to contact the credit bureaus directly. This is done either via the website, telephone or through postage mail.

Since you can request the credit report from each of the three credit bureaus annually you can space the requests out instead of requesting all three report at once. That way you will not have to wait 12 months for your next free credit report. Note, however, that the three bureaus have different sources for the information they include in their reports. Therefore, their credit reports for the same person tend to differ from each other.

Darrell

coopersmima asked:


I just tried by logging on to the free credit report link. I filled everything out but then they asked for my credit card number. The problem is I do not have any credit cards. How can I still get my free credit report?

Jeffrey

howtoinfo asked:

onlinecreditreportsfree.com Get your 3-in-1 credit report fom Experian, transunion and Equifax. Check your credit history and get fraud alerts to protect your identity. Experian credit reports, transunion redit reports, equifax credit reports… and credit scores free. Some require credit cards and some don’t… most states require that the credit bureaus provide at least one free credit report annually. free credit report rating history equifax freecreditreport com 3 in 1 3 bureau credi report free credit score and report 3-1 transunion experian

Dennis

Ariel Pryor asked:




You are entitled free credit reports annually. Your free credit reports are available to you by law, let’s look at how to get them the easy way. There is no catch, no sign up offer, no upsell you must purchase, you have a right as a citizen to know what your credit report is, and the reporting bureaus are obligated to provide you your report for free, annually.

Why You Should Know Your Credit Score

Your credit score is used in nearly every facet of your life these days, often without your even being aware that it was a factor. Everyone for example has rented an apartment or a home at one time or another, and it is often the case that as a prospective tenant, a landlord will pull your credit to determine your worthiness. Consumer stores use your credit in order to determine your risk, insurance companies adjust their rates based on your credit score, and of course, it is used as a determining factor for the approval of loans and credit cards.

Your credit report rating is an assessment of your financial health, and lenders, banks, companies and other institutions use them to assess your trustworthiness at a glance. A clean credit report, therefore has a variety of advantages. Most credit reports are riddled with errors or inaccuracies and it is your duty as a good consumer to address these and make sure you are being summed up in an accurate fashion.

Beware Online ‘Free’ Credit Report Offers

Obtaining your credit report isn’t very difficult. One word of caution, beware of online services or companies that attempt to attract you with a free offer to obtain your credit score for you. These are the offers that are too good to be true, and the lure of a free report is used to up sell you or introduce you to other offers that you don’t necessarily need or want.

Getting Your Reports Is Easy

Your scores are kept by the three major reporting bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The easiest way to obtain your free reports, mandated by law, is to use:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Which is a free site setup by the three bureaus so that you have a centralized location to get all three easily and without hassle. It’s won’t take you more than a few minutes and you can get your scores from each of the bureaus fast. Expect a slight variance between the three reports, they typically do not match, and be sure to clean up any inaccuracies that you find that could be falsely distorting your credit score. The process of disputing and cleaning up your credit score isn’t too difficult either, if you don’t mind doing it yourself.

Lewis

Patsy Rose asked:




Almost ten years ago, I was looking to buy a new home. A builder was advertising a “no down-payment mortgage”. With my permission, he pulled a copy of my credit report and told me that I had problems. I knew that I was entitled to a free credit report. Without a credit card, I began searching on-line for a source. The builder told me that the credit bureau was in town and that I could get a free credit report without a credit card if I went directly to the credit bureau. I could not even find the address.

For your information, if you are ever denied credit. The lender is required to provide you with the name and address of the credit bureau which provided them with the information they used in reviewing your application. You are entitled to a free credit report, without a credit card, within 60 days of the denied application.

This builder was a little strange. He printed out a copy and waved it in front of my face, telling me that he was not supposed to even let me see the report. He told me that in a couple of years, I might be able to qualify for his program. I had no idea what information he was talking about. I had owned and recently sold my own home because I had moved to a new city. I decided to rent for a while, just in case I did not like the new town. I did not have an active credit card, because I do not like credit cards. They sometimes get me into trouble. But, I was sure that this alone was not reason to refuse me into his no down payment program. So, my search began for a free credit report without a credit card. The builder said that I should be able to get one on-line, but that I would probably have to pay a fee. This made no sense to me, because I knew that I was entitled to a free copy.

I found a site that offered a free credit report without a credit card. They said they would send me my “free credit report” in the mail in a couple of weeks. My free credit report without a credit card turned out to be a magazine. The title was “My Free Credit Report”. This was my free copy, but they wanted me to know that subscribing was easy. I would be billed in three easy installments. I think that at this point, I gave up looking for a free credit report without a credit card. Having a case of “sour grapes”, I decided that I was not ready to buy a new house anyway.

Today, because of a recently enacted law, commonly called the FACT act, consumers can view and print a free credit report without a credit card, on-line, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The website was created by the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. The website was created to make it easier for people like me to find their free credit report without a credit card. Actually, it was created to make it easier for anyone to access the information stored on their credit reports. You are entitled to a free credit report without a credit card once in a 12 month period, if you have been denied credit within the past 60 days, if you are unemployed and planning to look for a job within the next 90 days and for various other reasons. The website address is http://www.annualcreditreport.com. It will come up if you type in free credit report into a web search engine, but other offers and services will pop up as well. If you type in “free credit report without a credit card”, it will not show up on the first page at all. Misspellings of the website address are being used by companies to attract customers to the services they offer. In order to avoid an experience like mine, you can type the website address correctly or access it from the Federal Trade Commission’s official consumer credit website. Hope this information makes your search for a free credit report without a credit card a little easier.

Erik

Marc Marseille asked:




Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. The effects of identity theft can be a very hurtful experience that mostly occurs during the important moments of your life. Many victims of identity theft do not even realize that someone or in some cases several people have been violating them by getting access to their personal credit bureau report. Protecting your credit bureau report can easily be achieved by getting a copy of your free triple score from all three credit bureaus.

Your free triple score report will provide you with all the information you have reporting with all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. Once you have received your credit bureau report, it is crucial that you do a thorough investigation to make sure that all your information is reporting correctly. If you find that you have been a victim of identity fraud, the best thing to do in that situation is to seek professional legal help through a reputable credit attorney.

It is unfortunate if you find yourself dealing with the situation of having your identity stolen, but there several steps you can take to prevent identity theft before it happens. The first step is to arm yourself with identity protection. Many credit card companies offer identity protection through a small monthly fee on your credit card, but if you have several credit cards, you may want to consider getting a more universal identity protection policy. Getting a universal identity protection policy includes using a company that works hand in hand with the 3 credit bureaus to create a lock on your credit bureau report.

Once you’ve create a lock on your credit report, no one can make any purchases using your information without having to verify some very vital information. To secure yourself even further, it is important to shred all important personal information before disposing of them. Information that should be shredded is bank statements, credit card statements, and anything that shows your Social Security Number.

Another precaution you can take is to never give your Social Security Number over the internet through an unsecured server. One way to find out if the website you are viewing is insecure is by looking at your browser window. All secure internet websites start with https: and not just http:. To make it even safer to surf the internet, you should get virus protection, spyware and a reliable internet explorer like Firefox.

My last recommendation to protection your free triple score report sounds simple enough, but a lot of people fall victim to it everyday; you should never give your Social Security Number over the telephone to a company you do not trust. Unless you have a long lasting relationship with a certain company, it is better to deal in person. If you must give sensitive information over the phone such as banking, try to establish a relationship with one particular individual in that department before you do so.

Virginia

Ima Johnson asked:




Being able to know your financial standings and your credit scores plays an important role. This is one thing that can dictate whether you will be qualified for a loan, for a credit card application, for a house and even a car or not. Maintaining a good credit score can help you increase the chances of having your application approved – but what if you have been an identity theft victim? Furthermore, how are you supposed to know whether your identity has been stolen or not?

These are just few questions that may bother most people, especially those who are planning to apply for a loan (or at least those people who have a pending loan application.) The only thing that can help you determine whether you have been an identity theft victim is through a credit report. Just for your information, a credit report includes all your financial history as well as your credit scores for the year. You can obtain for a free credit report every once in a year.

This way, you can keep track of your credit cards and financial history, and easily determine whether someone has been trying to steal your identity. If this thing happens, it is your responsibility to immediately call your credit card company and have the card disabled as soon as possible. As of today, you may have already realized the importance of a free credit report and what does it has to do with identity theft.

How to get a free credit report? This is the very first question that you may ask. Obtaining an annual credit report is quite easy. All that you have to do is to look for companies or bureaus offering this kind of services. Make sure that you inspect the company closely, and see whether they are a legit company or now.

Obtaining an annual report may seem to be an easy thing to do, but finding a legit company offering a legit annual financial report is another thing. To further help you out, you can call the government’s financing department and verify if the company or website that you are looking for is a genuine one.

Ellen