Posts Tagged ‘Get your free credit report’

How to Correct your Credit Report

Correcting inaccurate information on your credit report can help you immensely. The first step would be to check the expiration date of the records.

Then, you can create a dispute letter and send it to all three credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax). Before you do so, you probably will need to take other steps to analyze your credit though as indicated in the following steps:

  • Order your free credit reports from all three bureaus, of which you are entitled one copy per year. Print each out and review it carefully.
  • If you spot any information while reviewing printouts of your credit report spot any inaccurate information that could have an effect on you. You should be particularly concerned if it causes a decline of your credit score.
  • Documents you can use while you examine the accuracy of your credit report include as follows: Bankruptcy filing records (items marked “BK” for up to seven years), charge-off notes (notes indicating creditor has wrote off your debt as a loss), and collection records (usually remains on your record for up to 7 years after the last 180 day late payment).
  • You can also take a look at closed accounts. These expire after 7 years as well. Closed positive accounts might remain on your record for longer.
  • Foreclosed accounts, inquiries, judgments, late payments, repossessions, and tax liens, also affect your credit. You should take a look at any records concerning these very carefully.
  • Once you have examined all your records carefully, this is when you would possibly file a dispute. You can submit your dispute to Equifax and TransUnion by mail, and you can do the same but only online instead of mail when using Experian.
  • Once your dispute is submitted, then you can let the credit bureaus investigate. You can track these results, as all three financial bureaus have a responsibility to investigate claims made by you within 30 days.

How to Get your Free Credit Report Instantly

If you are looking for a way to get your free credit report instantly, it is far easier than you think. If you are just now using the Internet for the first time, usually all it requires is the following steps:

1. Register free with a qualified participant

2. Request daily alerts

3.Request from all three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion)

How to Sign Up

Usually all you need to do is fill out your name, address, and other personal information. WARNING: If you are seeking an online instant credit report for the first time make sure you trust the source!

NEVER give your information to an online credit report checker you cannot verify. If you send your informantion to a fraudulent site, you could have your identity stolen.

Why you should Sign Up

The reason you may want to get a report of your financial history is that perhaps you need to know your credit score. This is handy to have if you plan to walk into a place sometime in the near future looking for a car or home loan.

You also are encouraged to sign up in the event someone has used your informant against your will. Monitoring your payment histories on a regular basis can stop you from having someone ruin your credit.

Furthermore, if anyone has stolen your identity the problem can be taken care of faster than if the situation is not caught right away. If you are not received alerts, you should begin to seek them today.

These are the two main reasons you can sign up. Furthermore, you can also track your progress as far as paying off debts you owe.

Benefits

When you seek the right information about your financial history, it can alert you of one or more of the following things:

1. Who is seeking reports on you (i.e. credit card companies, phone companies)

2. Learn how creditworthy you really are-or how you need to improve it
View a record of your payment histories

3. See how you compare to other consumers

Precautions

Of course, you need to remember also that many credit report checks are free that often you are just signing up for a trial period. This is important to remember in case you wonder why you are later being charged for the service. If you sign up to keep track of your financial history and payment records make sure you realize the terms of agreement.