Christopher Wright asked:




Since late 2004 and early 2005, the three nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – began processing consumers’ requests for free annual credit reports at annualcreditreport(.com).

A credit report contains consumers’ identification information; payment history with different creditors; a list of inquiries made by various financial institutions; and information on the public record, such as foreclosures or bankruptcies. Consumer reporting companies collect and sell this information to lenders and other businesses that have a permissible purpose to obtain it.

The FTC has issued a new consumer education brochure, “Your Access to Free Credit Reports,” that explains why it is important for consumers to monitor their credit history, how to request a report, and how to dispute any errors. The report can be found by searching the FTC’s site for that title.

Keep in mind the source of this information. You can be sure that (when reading this) there won’t be any secrets techniques exposed that would give you an advantage over the bureaus during your credit restoration process. Learning some of these insider tactics requires a different thought process.

By law you are also entitled to receive a free copy of your credit report if you have been denied or turned down for credit. The company you applied for credit through must provide you with the name and contact information of the credit bureau they obtained your information from. You can then contact this credit bureau within 60 days using the information provided to obtain your free credit report. You may be able to fax a copy of your denial letter and get access to your credit files quicker than sending them via snail mail.

Franklin

Tim Gorman asked:




A lien is a property interest granted over a piece of property to make sure that a debt or any other form of obligation is met. A tax lien can be stated to be a lien placed on a property to secure payment of taxes. They are imposed when there has been a failure to pay taxes, which could be any tax like personal property tax, real property tax, income tax or any other delinquent tax. That is, if you have not paid your tax and have ignored to pay it even after demand, the tax amount along with any fines and interest will become a tax lien to the government upon any real or personal property belonging to you. This is placed on your property to ensure that before the property is sold the pending taxes are paid up, either by you or by the buyer.

The tax lien will become effective from the date of assessment made by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) which is the formal recording of the tax in the revenue records. Once the demand for paying the tax is received and you do not pay within ten days from the notice date, the lien is automatically activated, from the date of the assessment. The tax lien will cover not only the property currently in your possession but will also apply to property to be acquired in the future. The priority or order of the claim on a property is determined by the type of creditor and the type of lien. For example, a retailer’s lien on a personal property takes priority as compared to a vehicle lender.

If a tax lien has been placed on any of your real or personal property, it will appear in your credit report. It can haunt you for a long period and in case you are wondering “How long do tax lien stay on a credit report”, here are the answers: Paid tax liens continue to appear in the credit report for seven years from the date of paying the lien. In case, the tax lien has not been paid, it will remain for a minimum period of fifteen years; in some cases it may remain forever. Equifax and TransUnion show unpaid tax liens indefinitely while Experian shows it for fifteen years.

This action will affect your credit rating in a negative way (just like any unpaid debt will do) and in turn will reduce your credit score. This means that your credit worthiness in the loan market is lowered and you will be perceived as a high risk debtor. Your ability to find a lender for any future loans could be seriously hindered by this. Therefore, it is important to get the tax lien off your credit report at the earliest. The only way you can do this is by paying the pending taxes in full and ensuring that the tax agency removes the lien, by showing them the receipt for your paid taxes. You should also make sure that the tax settlement is reflected in your credit report – please note that only the severity of the lien’s impact on your credit rating is reduced, as the lien will continue to appear for seven years in your credit report.

Joy

Zach Ford asked:




Everyone should understand their credit report and apply for a free instant credit report online. Items contained there are the most important determining factors for a loan, getting an apartment, obtaining a good credit card, and much more. The credit score you have will tell your potential lenders information about how you handle your financial business.

Credit reports are what all lending companies and banks use to decide whether an applicant is worthy of a loan from them. Applicants who have a history of not paying their debts on time will most likely repeat the scenario if they are given another loan. This makes applicants undesirable to lenders. The higher your credit score is and the better your credit report is, gives you the opportunity to be able to borrow at a lower interest rate.

Previously it would take days to get a copy of your credit report to view it for errors and other mistakes. But today, with advances in technology, it is easy for anyone to get their hands on a copy of their credit report within minutes, not days as before.

The United States Federal Trade Commission requires the big three in credit reporting agencies to provide you once a year, with a free copy of your credit report. You can contact Equifax, TransUnion or Experian to receive your annual free copy.

If you need more assistance, there are many helpful online sites that will guide you through the process of obtaining your credit report. Many of these same business online will even help you to improve your credit score, if need be.

In your credit report, you will also see the list of companies who have inquired about your credit so that you can make sure they are all legitimate inquiries. Another benefit is verifying that you haven’t fell a victim to identity theft or fraud of any kind. Fraudulent activity in your credit report can affect your chances of qualifying for a loan or getting a good credit card. Also out of date information contained in your credit report should be reported for removal.

Nellie

Thomas Morva asked:




Three companies offer online credit reports in the United States of America. A credit report is compiled using the previous information of a person or a company. This information may include a persons name, current address, social security number, date of birth and current and previous employers. A credit report also consists of details about credit accounts that were opened in the person’s name.

Online credit reports are classified, necessitate a credit card, are open for a particular number of days, and can be printed from the website. An online credit report can also help a moneylender by providing easy access to a borrowers credit history. There are many advantages of an online credit report for borrowers as well as lenders. Any bank will check a person?s credit report before forwarding any type of loan. This not only helps the bank in deciding the interest rates that are to be fixed but also helps the borrower by providing speedy financial services.

The government is bound by law to give a credit report to those who have been turned down by creditors. This credit report is accessible at any time of the year and can be accessed by lenders or borrowers whenever they wish. Other legal pre-requisites for obtaining a credit report include – having a valid social security number and the age of the person (above 18 years).

The three companies that provide this service are Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. An instant credit report can tremendously increase the speed of the process of credit creation on which all the capitalistic countries depend. Credit creation is a process that involves creating credit so that the economy can benefit from all the idle money or finances. Inactive capital or funds are put to use by lending so that the flow of capital in the economy is not hampered. Instant online credit reports make the process of credit creation very smooth thus benefiting the lender, the borrower, as well as the country’s economy.

Jean

Tomas Loden asked:




Can you trust online credit report services? That is the question that consumers are asking today, especially with the hundreds of offers that flood your e-mail in-box promising accurate credit reporting scores with just the click of a mouse.

The good news is that most, if not all of these companies, are legitimate and do in fact provide you the necessary information that is directly related to your credit report and your overall score, which depends on whatever particular credit bureau system the company uses to check your background with.

Free credit report services

Just about every credit report organization will offer you some type of “free” background check of your credit score. While this free report may not entail every detail that you would like to know in terms of your debts, there is some valuable information that can be obtained. However, you should know that these introductory offers are merely just to give you a taste of their product so that you can upgrade to the paid credit reporting services they offer.

Is it safe to submit your personal information for a free credit report service?

If you stick with the most popular credit reporting agencies then you should have absolutely no problem worrying about your personal information being delivered over the Internet such as your Social Security number, driver’s license, etc. This information is typically handled by a secure server and there is little need to worry about the credit form being hacked and stolen by an unauthorized user.

What credit bureaus are checked when using a free credit report service?

Since there are three main credit bureaus that most agencies use to locate and filter your debts and credit score information, this free reporting service may use one of these entities or a combination of all three.

The three national credit reporting organizations used by most businesses is Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

Remember, the most accurate scoring for your credit and history can only be obtained by having a combination of all three major credit bureaus. In other words, let’s say for example you sign up with a free reporting service and the information comes back only partially accurate. This means that you would need to upgrade to the paid service in order to get 100% up-to-date credit information.

Is it possible to contact the three national credit reporting agencies on your own, instead of relying on a paid service?

While utilizing a credit reporting service is the most efficient way of compiling your information into one easy-to-read scoring system, you can in fact request your credit history from the three major national credit bureaus. Below is the contact information for Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax:

1. Experian: The phone number is 1-888-397-3742 and Experian will send you your report by mail within seven to ten business days.

2. TransUnion: The contact number for TransUnion is 1-800-916-8800 and in most cases you will receive your credit report within seven business days.

3. Equifax: The phone number is 1-800-685-1111. Equifax is faster than most services and usually sends your credit report out to you within 48 hours.

Franklin

Tim Gorman asked:




The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act 2003 requires that the three top credit bureaus; Equifax, Experian and TransUnion provide free annual credit reports to anyone that orders one. The three bureaus have created and jointly hosted a website where consumers can order their instant credit reports for free. They also provide a toll free telephone number and a mailing address which can be used by consumers to apply for their reports. The Act also mandates that consumers should be able to get their credit scores for a small fee, along with explanations about the factors involved in the score computation.

Credit reports are important for two reasons – first, so you can spot any errors in your credit history and financial transactions and have them corrected immediately. An error could cause you to get labeled as a credit risk and classify you with bad credit which in turn means lower loan amounts and higher interest rates when you attempt to take out a loan in the future. The second reason for ordering your credit information is to make sure that any apparent identity theft can be identified and corrected.

Getting your credit score can also prove beneficial before you apply for a loan – any lender looks at your score before nailing down the interest rates on your loan. With a good score, you will be in a position to negotiate a better deal for yourself.

You are eligible to get three free credit reports, one from each bureau, every year. By going online to http://www.annualcreditreport.com, you can get your free report. You can choose to order all three together or choose to order one at a time over a period of one year. If you would like to keep track of your credit transactions through a whole year, ordering the three reports at different times would make sense. Although you can order by telephone or mail you should expect a wait time of a few weeks before your report arrives.

However, when you go online to order you not only get instant credit report, you can actually do so from the comfort of your home. Another point in favor of getting your report online from home is that you will have all your credit documentation close at hand to reference as required or needed. How will you get your credit report copy from the website? Once you log into the site mentioned above, you will be asked to enter some information like your name, address, date of birth and social security number. Then you can choose the bureau or bureaus whose reports you want to receive information from. After you make this choice, each bureau will set its own set of questions for you to answer in order to confirm your identity. This could be any unique information that is supposed to be known only to you, like the balance amount on a particular credit card account you hold.

Once your identity is verified, your instant credit report will be available at your finger tips! You will have the option to print this report or to save it as a file on your computer. After this, you can choose to go for additional services like getting your credit score etc. (note, these normally require a small charge or fee).

Christina

Lyn Collier asked:




You don’t have to sign up for a trial membership of a credit protection service to get free copies of your credit reports. There a few one-stop websites where you can order credit reports from all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. It’s easy. One site, Annual Credit Report, is even recommended by Consumer advocate Clark Howard as well as the Consumer Credit Counseling Service.

By the way, your “credit report” is not the same thing as your “credit score.” The reports will give your credit activity only – not your FICO score. The FICO score is a number that is generated using info from all three agencies. It is a product of Fair Isaac Credit Org. (FICO) and must be purchased – $15.95

When you get to the site and start clicking around to request your free report, a few things might concern you. The main thing…and it is kind of unavoidable is the request for you to enter your Social Security number. If you have strong reservations about entering your SS number online, you can just skip the rest of the article and look up the 800 number and do the transaction on the phone. But either way, you will to have to provide your social security number.

Back to the online request. At some point during your online request for a free credit report , each bureau will try to sell you their products. Stay focused.

Here is the protocol for Experian for example: (and they are all pretty much alike so I will spare you the details on the other 2)

Step 1 on the Experian site will offer to sell you your Experian credit score for $5.95. Each bureau assigns a score, but their scores do not represent your FICO score.The FICO score is the one that most creditors use. I don’t recommend buying a credit score from anyone other than FICO. it’s the only one that counts. When asked if you want to purchase your “Experian” score, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “No thanks, I just want my free annual credit report.”

You will cruise through the steps pretty quickly. The only time you might have a problem is if you don’t answer the identification verification questions correctly. If you answer incorrectly you will be given a toll-free number to call where your i.d. can be verified manually.

Once you are done on the Experian site, you will be prompted to return to the Annual Credit Report site and continue with the other credit bureaus.

All the sites will walk you through the same process offering to sell you their products along the way. Remember, your goal is to get free credit reports, not buy stuff. Follow the prompts and you will instantly get your three credit reports free of charge.

Sue

Davion Wong asked:




There are various ways of getting your free 3 credit bureau report considering that the government has a mandate to give every citizen his own free copy of the credit report once a year. This will give you the chance to track down and monitor your financial information and verify the authenticity of the details recorded in your profile.

There are many credit-reporting bureaus around offering to give you your free yearly copy of this important document; however, the government designated the three main credit-reporting agencies as the official source of your personal financial record, and they are the Experian, the TransUnion and the Equifax. Therefore, if you want to get your financial profile, it is best to get your free-report from these agencies.

Every time you apply for a loan or credit card, your payment behavior with them will be recorded in this report; hence, they should ideally report them to each of the three main reporting agencies in order to make your profile consistent. However, this is not always the case in reality because sometimes there are some creditors who only report them to one agency.

For example, your payment record with a certain credit card company is submitted to the Experian only; without bothering to submit them to TransUnion and Equifax. Consequently, your score for Experian is different with your grade in Transunion and Equifax as a result of absence of your additional profile in the two reporting agencies. Hence, it is important to regularly check your free 3 credit bureau report every year in order to confirm the accuracy of the information contained in your report. This will greatly improve your rating if you have an excellent record.

Where to get your free credit bureau report? One way to get your copy is to request them individually from each of the main agencies mentioned herein. They are tasked by the government to supply you with your free financial record every year upon request.

Another method is to get them online through their web site where the three main official financial institutions have combined their services in one site at AnnualCreditReport.com where you can initiate your request. This method offers more convenient process in obtaining this important document because you don’t need to make three requests from each of the major reporting companies; you only make one request and you will get your free 3 credit bureau report.

Cathy

~just.me~ asked:


From Transunion, Equifax and Experian? I need copies of all three, but each you must pay 14 to 30 dollars EACH for. Is there one place I can pay One fee and get all of the TRUE reports. I need to dispute a few things on my credit, but I already viewed my free credit reports around 6 months ago, and I am not eligible to view for free.
Yes, I already went to annualcreditreport.com and got my reports around 6 months ago, so they no longer let me in. Should I wait until I am eligible again to view for free, and then do my disputes? I just don’t understand my I have to pay for my reports and send them in to the company I got the report from in order to file a dispute.

Theresa

Zach Ford asked:




Thanks to the Federal Trade Commission, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, the three big credit reporting bureaus, must provide you the consumer with a free copy of your credit report at least once a year. This means that a free credit report is yours once a year, all you have to do is request it. With today’s technologies, it has never been easier to view a free copy of your credit report from all three of the major credit bureaus. What better way to stay on top of your financial goals?

Know what’s in your credit report! There is no charge!

Yes, it’s free to check your credit report. Do you know what’s in yours? If you know what’s located in your free credit report, it will save you time when shopping for a loan or a lease, and money too. Even if you have never dealt with having bad credit, you still need to know what is in your report and check it annually for errors. Errors can damage your financial health and cause a bad relationship between you and your financial lenders.

You can obtain a copy from all three credit reporting bureaus by visiting http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com. Of course, you can go to their websites individually if you wish, Experian is http://www.experian.com Equifax is http://www.equifax.com and TransUnion is http://www.transunion.com. Be warned that they will ask you to sign up for account with them and offer other services to you. All three can also be contacted through regular USPS mail. The best way to contact all three of them at the same time without being slammed with offers of services they offer is to obtain your free credit report through [http://www.AnualCreditReport.com].

Betty