Free Instant Credit Reports – Score

Irena Bocheva asked:




Anatole France once stated that “it is only the poor who pay cash, and not from virtue, but because they are refused credit”. Currently more than 35 million Americans are plagued by bad credit and the various issues related to it. Some of them have thrown in the towel and accepted the bad credit reality. Others have embarked on a long journey of financial discipline and careful budget planning with the ultimate goal-paying off debt in full. There is, however, a small percentage of Americans that have found shorter and easier ways to personal credit repair.

Here are the 3 most important pillars of fast credit repair.

1. Can you play the game “blindfolded”?

In the world of credit repair, knowledge is everything. Trying to fix your credit without the proper knowledge is like trying to find your way in a dark forest “blindfolded”? Do you know how your FICO score is calculated? How to read your credit report? Which are the most detrimental items in your report? Which are the most important factors in the credit formula? Do you know how to request validation of debt from credit bureaus, collection agencies and original creditors? How to dispute inaccurate, outdated, ambiguous and questionable info in your report? How to remove mistakes in your credit file using the Rapid Rescore strategy? How to use your legal rights specified in the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

There are so many ” how to” in the world of credit repair. The more you know about them, the better your chances to raise your credit score fast.

2. Load your gun with legal bullets.

As a consumer, you have various rights. Most of these rights are specified in the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. For example, you have the legal right to sue credit bureaus if they fail to respond to your written dispute within 30 days(FCRA,sec 611), creditors if you dispute a debt and they fail to report it as disputed to credit bureaus(FCRA, sec 623), collection agencies if they don’t validate your debt (upon your request), but continue to pursue collection activities (FDCPA, sec 809). You have much more leverage with credit bureaus, collection agencies and original creditors than you think. The key here is to learn your legal rights. And to use them to the maximum in the negotiation process.

3. Pull out all the stops.

Just like with any other area in life, credit repair requires energy and dedication. Collection agencies are not always eager to settle for the amount that you offer. Credit bureaus will not always honor your dispute and delete the disputed item from your record. Original creditors might not agree to remove that one time late payment from your record even after your explain the sad circumstances surrounding it. In other words-don’t expect all credit lights in front of you to turn green. However, you have to keep on trying. Perseverance is a vital part of the personal credit repair formula.

Personal credit repair requires credit knowledge, awareness of your legal rights and the right amount of perseverance and dedication. Once you start thinking outside the credit box, you’ll be surprised to find how easy credit repair actually is.

Judy

Tim Gorman asked:




A credit report provides information in regards to your credit worthiness by giving the nitty gritty details of your credit transactions. These reports are sold by the credit bureaus to lenders like banks, insurance companies, credit card companies and many other financially related institutions who use your report to evaluate you and decide whether to transact with you. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to your very own free credit report from each of the three top credit bureaus Equifax, Experian ad TransUnion, every 12 months, on request. This is to ensure that you know what picture is projected about you to the various potential lenders and businesses in the market and to protect yourself from any form of identity theft that seems to be prevelant in today’s society.

In order to cater to the free annual credit report program, the three credit reporting companies have set up a website, a toll free telephone and a mailing address as avenues through which anyone can order their free credit information. The website is http://www.annualcreditreport.com , the toll free number is 1-877-322-8228 and mailing address is Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281, to which you need to send in the Annual credit report request form. Additionally, you have the option to order free report and score (the score is optional and comes at a small cost) from all three companies at the same time or each at a different time, depending on your purposes.

Consumers that choose to search the Internet and go online in order to obtain a copy of their free credit report and score need to be wary on one point – There are companies that have their web site names very close in spelling to the one mentioned above. So, if a consumer makes a typo error while typing the website address, they will be redirected to different unintended pages, which may collect some information and offer some services, at a cost.

When you order your information online, you will get it instantly. Whereas if you order using the toll free number or through the mail, it is likely to take a minimum of 15 days or more, depending on the volumes being processed by the credit bureaus. You are also eligible for a free credit report, when a company has refused to transact with you; if you do not have a job currently and plan to take up one in the next sixty days; if you are on welfare or if your report has any errors that you have reported with evidence.

If you wonder what you will do with a credit report, think again. Before applying for a loan or insurance or credit card or a job, it is a good idea to verify your financial information and ensure that all the details provided there are accurate and current. Else, the report might throw an unpleasant surprise at you. Verifying your credit report periodically is a way to avoid identity theft, where a person lifts your identity details and uses it for credit purposes like getting a loan or a credit card and defaults on it. By checking your credit report, you can catch such thefts and report them on time, before it gives you ‘bad credit’.

Now that you know the advantages of tracking your credit report and score, you could choose the best way to get it free and enjoy the benefits.

Lonnie

Tim Gorman asked:




The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT) give all individuals the opportunity to receive a free credit report. Generally, you can request a free credit report once per year. These reports are requested from the three major credit bureaus who report on all activity regarding credit. The intentions of the Acts are to allow the consumer to check the accuracy as well as the privacy of his or her credit report. This is underlined by the fact that FCRA and FACT are enforced with regard to consumer reporting companies by the Federal Trade Commission which is the main consumer protection agency in United States.

A credit report contains data regarding the consumer’s personal contact information, bankruptcy, as well as his or her very detailed credit history details. It is regularly used to evaluate his or her credit worthiness by not only financial institutions offering credit but by employers and others. As such it is important to make sure that the consumer has a right to check the credit report in order to correct any errors or unfair information contained there. This also prevents anyone else from using your identity to commit fraud since such activity will become apparent when you check the report.

You can request the free annual copy of your credit report from the website set up by the three main credit bureaus, namely Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. All three have set up a toll free telephone number and a mailing address to meet the requests from consumers. Contacting the credit bureaus directly will not be fruitful since they will direct you to the website referred above. However you can request the free annual copy from each of the three bureaus separately at different times as long as you request only one copy for 12 months from each bureau.

Once you have filled the form on the website you will be able to see the credit report almost immediately. Using the toll free number or mailing address will get you the report within 15 days of request. However you should have the information needed to verify your identity if the credit bureau requests.

Other methods to get a free credit report

In addition to the entitlement mentioned above .You are entitled to obtain a free credit report if you are denied credit, insurance, or employment due to the contents of the credit report. However you should request the report within 60 days of notice of such denial. Unemployed individuals looking for work, those who are on welfare, and those who have been victims of frauds or identity theft, can also request a free copy of the credit report. It must also be remembered that residents of States of Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont, have access to annual credit reports free of charge for some time through State laws.

Manuel

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

Thomas Morva asked:




A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) obligates the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union – to provide a free credit report to any consumer who requests it.

The importance of a credit report cannot be ignored. An accurate report can help you obtain loans for major purchases, or even help you rent an apartment. All this, and more, becomes difficult if you have negative errors in your report.

A negative report can prove to be an obstacle if you are job hunting. This is because most employers will go through your credit history before offering employment. If you are actually employed, then a negative report can reduce your chances for further promotion. And, what if the end of it you realize that these errors were because of no fault of yours and that they could have been sorted out in the first place. You can avoid this situation by ordering a free credit report.

Once you get it, make sure the information provided in it is correct. This means that you must verify that your personal details such as your name, address, date of birth, and also the name of your current employer are correct. When this is done, do a check on your financial status. This is because your report will also contain information of your bank accounts, loans, credit payments. In other words, your credit card is also in a way your financial statement on which your future transactions will depend.

If you find any discrepancies, file a report in writing, with any one of the consumer reporting companies, for action. Apart from providing you with the opportunity to verify your accounts and check your credit score, these reports also provide a listing of the companies who have made enquiries on your reports.

These consumer reporting companies sell this information to bankers, creditors, insurers, employers and other business houses. It is imperative to order a free copy to ensure that there are no inaccuracies or errors in your report.

Oscar

Bart Newman asked:




Equifax, TransUnion and Experian are nationwide consumer reporting companies required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA to provide consumers a copy of their free credit report with score each year. This Act is implemented by the Federal Trade Commission, a consumer protection agency that also promotes privacy and accuracy of information from these three companies.

In general, a credit score is the measure of credit risk computed from a collection of credit reports using a standardized formula. It includes information of your address, how you pay your bills, and whether you have filed for bankruptcy or have been sued or arrested. The scale for credit score ranges from 349 to 849; indicative, for example, that a 640 rating will most likely give you difficulty getting a good loan. This kind of information are sold by consumer reporting companies to insurers, creditors, employers and businesses for evaluation of your credit, employment, insurance and home rental.

So why would you want to have a copy of your credit report? Because it contains information whether you can get a loan and how much you will have to pay; to make sure that it is up-to-date, accurate, and complete before doing a major purchase for car, insurance, house or even to apply for a job. Getting your report on a regular basis makes you manage your accounts well and lets you venture on possible ways to improve or raise your score. This is also one of the many ways to combat identity theft which has been widespread today especially to internet-related transactions.

To get a free credit report with score, you need to provide your name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number. You may also need to indicate previous addresses if you have moved in the last two years. To ensure your security, every nationwide consumer reporting company asks for information that is exclusive to you.

Along with the credit report, it is also advisable to request for credit monitoring to be updated of any strange transaction or activity on your accounts such as change of account information and opening and closing of investments and bank accounts.

Usually a free credit report with score can be accessed immediately although it may even take longer if the nationwide consumer reporting company requires more information to verify your identity.

Under a state law, consumers living in Vermont, Georgia, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland have access to free credit report with score.

Jon