Important Facts Worth Knowing About Credit Report Bureaus In The US
July 29, 2008
There are three main credit report bureaus in America, each of which will provide you with information about your credit history. It can contain data on your identity, payment habits, public records including arrests, bankruptcies, debts, credit data information, and details of your personal history including family members and dependents as well as previous employment and previous addresses.
Selling Reports
It is also normal practice for credit report bureaus to sell their credit reports to those companies and individuals that grant credit including banks and financial institutions. They also sell credit reports to retailers who in turn need to use the information contained in the credit report to evaluate the viability of extending credit to the applicant or not.
The three main credit report bureaus in the US include Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Each of these bureaus provide coverage (nationwide) related to information on consumer credit. What’s more, these credit report bureaus work to make profit. In fact, they are able to generate many billions of dollars by way of revenue on an annual basis through sale of copies of credit reports to mailing lists and creditors. In fact, it is estimated that Trans Union alone made about one and a half billion dollars in a single year.
However, you must also understand at the very outset that the basic function of these and other credit report bureaus is to simply keep records on consumers. This includes data on who provides credit, when the credit was provided, the amount of credit given, and the repayment history of the consumer regarding the credit taken by them.
The credit report bureaus earn money from people interested in learning about the credit standing of others. What’s more, such bureaus are not, in fact, run by the police, banks, or even government, and they are also not empowered to take legal action against consumers.
Basically, these credit report bureaus simply have big computer systems that can hold voluminous amounts of information on nearly every citizen in the US. However, a negative aspect to these credit report bureaus is that because the amount of information that they store is so great, and because methods of storing information are not very sophisticated, it is common for errors to creep into the credit reports they issue.
Fortunately, to protect the interests of ordinary citizens, there are enough Federal laws in place to protect the interests of the consumer, and thus not lead to further chaos.
Credit report bureaus get their information from banks, retailers, as well as from collection agencies. They will continue keeping records on consumers’ credit history for about ten years.
In the case of closed or inactive accounts, the information is kept for ten years from the time of the consumer’s last activity. Derogatory records are maintained for seven years from the time of delinquency. Public records are maintained for seven years, while Chapter Seven bankruptcies information remains with the bureau for ten years from the date of filing for bankruptcy.
Tags: credit report
If I Want, I Can Even Get My Credit Report For Free
July 26, 2008
It is always a good idea to think about getting your credit report at least once in a year and though you may need to pay a small fee in order to get your credit report, it is nevertheless money well spent. Mostly, the costs will differ from one credit reporting agency to another and often, it may not amount to more than fifteen dollars for each bureau, though it is also possible to get your credit report at a lower cost, and in some instances it is even possible to get your credit report for free.
Protected by the Law
The fact of the matter is that there are laws in place that will help you to get your credit report. It is always a good idea to take advantage of checking out your credit score because it helps you to avoid identity theft.
You can even get your credit report for free over the Internet. This report is available for you to see for a period of thirty days. If you also can take advantage of a few other factors, you could still qualify and get your credit report for free based on these other factors.
In case you are sure that your credit report contains errors, then you would also be entitled to get your credit report for free from each of the three main credit reporting agencies. However, you do have to ensure that you also review your credit report from at least one major credit reporting agency and then check the accuracy of their credit report. If you notice discrepancies, then you should ask for credit reports from the other major bureaus as well in order to verify that the same mistakes are not repeated in the other reports.
You may even visit the website of Annual Credit Report. There, you can get to review your credit report for reviewing purposes without having to pay any fee for the opportunity - though just once in a year. Otherwise, the major credit reporting agencies from where you can get your credit report are Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian.
It is also possible to get your credit report in case your loan or credit application has been rejected, and the credit bureau cannot charge you to provide you with the credit. You must also take advantage of reviewing your credit report from time to time because it will allow you to discover errors well in time, and then allow you to take remedial action and thus stay on top of your credit report. Thus, you can be assured that you won’t need to suffer because of errors that have gone unnoticed, and which can cause your application for loans or credit to be rejected.
Tags: credit report
Do Your Own Credit Report Repair And Improve Your Credit Score
July 23, 2008
When applying for credit, you need to understand at the very outset that it is the level of credit that you are assessed with that will play an important role in deciding whether you get a low interest credit, or one that carries a high interest. Thus, there are no doubts that the better you are able to manage your credit, the more you will enjoy establishing credit. In addition, you will also get to save many thousands of dollars over a lifetime and also have enough saved for your retirement years.
Finding a Balance
If your credit score happens to be low, you must then think about using proper means to affect proper credit report repair and, in the process, hopefully even improve your credit score by as many as fifty points. This is good enough to allow you to save about thirty-three thousand dollars during the life of your mortgage.
By affecting proper credit report repair, you can avoid paying high interest rates when you apply for your car loan. Credit will also be available at more reasonable rates. Thus, it will allow you to save a tidy sum of money with which to retire gracefully.
However, before you do anything else, you must ensure that you don’t fall for clever advertising gimmicks. In fact, make it a point in avoiding using credit report repair companies just like the plague, because you will only suffer rather than benefit from their services. That, of course, is not to imply that all credit report repair companies are scammers, but only to highlight the fact that most of them are - which has given the legitimate companies a bad name.
To affect credit report repair on your own, you would first of all need to ensure that you ignore all solicitations that come your way from different credit bureaus. Next, you need to validate your debts with different collection agencies. In case you come across a debt that is more than seven years old, these must (by law) be removed by the credit bureau. In addition, you also need to be on the lookout for duplicate collection, which can happen when collection agencies package and then sell off your debts to a different company and conveniently forget to remove their original report.
Finally, in case of erroneous information appearing in your credit report, you must dispute these errors with the different major credit bureaus. So, whether it is late payment, collection or even adverse remarks, you will need to fire off a dispute letter to the concerned bureau that are required by law to prove within reasonable times that debts owed by you are, in fact, legitimately yours to pay.
Of course, the entire process of credit report repair is a lot more complicated than these simple steps. So, you will need to do your own research to find out what the best course of action for you is and then act accordingly.
Tags: credit report
Credit Report Monitoring: Is It Really All That Necessary?
July 20, 2008
When it concerns evaluating the effectiveness or otherwise of credit report monitoring, one will immediately notice that it does have its own complement of strengths and weaknesses. So, it becomes necessary to also ponder over how much value you get for the money that you spend when using services of credit bureaus, as well as other companies who do the credit report monitoring for you. In any case, there are a few cost effective means of performing such monitoring including using credit freezes as well as locking your social security number.
In any case, both these steps will end up costing you a small sum of money that can range from five to ten dollars. Once you freeze your credit, for this money you get a PIN number which can also be used to unfreeze your credit and which involves spending another five to ten dollars, depending on state laws.
Monthly Reporting
Another factor worth pondering about with regard to effectiveness of credit report monitoring is figuring out whether it is really all that necessary for you to get monthly credit reports after having put a freeze on your credit. The fact of the matter is that you are entitled to getting one free credit report every year.
So, it may be a good idea when performing your credit report monitoring to place a freeze on your credit with a different credit bureau. Then, wait thirty days before ordering your free credit report. Then, after a further three to four months, repeat the same process with another credit bureau, and do the same for your spouse as well. Be in a position to get about six credit reports each year which will certainly help you with your credit report monitoring.
Of course, you must also be wary of the scare tactics employed by credit report monitoring advertising companies that like to have you believe that your identity is going to be stolen at any instant. They also tell you that paying five to ten dollars for better credit report monitoring is worth your while.
The sad truth is that identity thieves can devise many unique and novel ways of robbing your identity that most credit report monitoring efforts will fail to prevent. Thus, you should take these credit report monitoring advertisements and commercials with a grain of salt.
In any case most such services involve being told a subjective truth which is not of too much value anyway. It may actually be in your better interests to learn about proper Identity Theft Fraud Protection and Restoration, because these solutions could very well prove to be the better and more effective options compared to credit report monitoring and/or credit freezes.
Tags: credit report
Credit Report Agencies Thrive On Selling Information About Consumers
July 17, 2008
Did you know that soon after you have made your application to obtain mortgage credit, the information that you have provided in your application is being shared with lenders and only just twenty-four hours after having made your application. The fact of the matter is that credit report agencies thrive largely by selling information related to consumers - both individual and businesses - and that the amount of money transacted by various credit report agencies in making available these credit reports to interested parties is estimated to run into many billions of dollars.
Selling Trigger Lists
It is also common for these credit report agencies to sell what they call ‘trigger lists’ of individuals who have recently got into touch with lenders for obtaining loan pre-approvals and who have also permitted the loan officers to check on their credit standing. In fact, credit report agencies are thriving on the demand for such information that is usually required by companies that will market such data further and who resell information such as credit information to companies and individuals that in the main are interested in lending money.
A company such as Mortgage Inquiry Data provides lenders with access to information pertaining to virtually every potential credit seeker who is applying for mortgage loans. In a similar vein, another company that deals in selling information is Intellidyn which is famous for its IntelliAlert that provides interested parties with information about borrowers just twenty-four hours after the borrower made their application for loans.
Both Experian and Equifax which are two of the top three credit report agencies have also admitted that they sell these trigger lists just twenty-four hours after applications are received from borrowers. The third credit report agencies which is TransUnion has not yet made its stand on this issue public. However, it must also be mentioned that selling of such trigger lists by credit report agencies is not in any way a violation of existing laws. These trigger lists are actually quite similar to pre-approved credit lists that have for long been sold to lenders and which has really been quite common practice over the years.
However, from the point of view of the borrower, the disturbing thing about the fact that credit report agencies sell trigger lists is that even if the borrower does not wish their credit information to be made public, they have little option and they can’t stop the same from happening. The only bright side to this picture is that now-a-days, many consumer protection agencies are reviewing this practice and maybe some protection may be forthcoming that can benefit borrowers. Nevertheless, they can still let the Federal Trade Commission know that they disapprove of their credit information being shared through trigger lists.
Tags: credit report
Can You Get Your Credit Report Online?
July 13, 2008
In today’s information age, there’s not much that you can’t get online. You can order a pizza online, you can shop online, you can get medical advice online and you can even get a copy of your credit report online. That’s right, you can check your credit report online, in the comfort of your own home, and you don’t have to worry about waiting for it to arrive in the mail. So how do you go about getting your credit report online? You can do it by searching for one of the credit reporting agencies or all three and requesting one.
The Three Agencies
You should be aware that everyone that has credit has a report with all three agencies that are responsible for credit reporting. These companies are called Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. When you take out a line of credit, the lender will typically report to only one of the companies. So, if you have several lines of credit, you may have items on one report that aren’t on the other two. That’s why it’s very important, if you want a very accurate view of your credit standing, that you get your credit report online from all three agencies.
Will It Cost Money?
Most of the time, you will have to pay a small fee to get your credit report online from the three credit reporting agencies. It’s true that you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three agencies but this may not apply to you receiving a copy of your credit report online. You may only be able to receive it through the mail. However, look up the three agencies online and see what they’re offering. Be careful of third party venders. Many times, third party venders, such as FreeCreditReport.com, will offer a fee to get your credit report online. This company isn’t bad. In fact, the company allows you to check your credit report whenever you want for a small fee each month. However, going through the agency itself may save you a lot of money in the long run.
Who Do You Owe?
If you don’t want to wait for your credit report to arrive in the mail, or if you don’t trust the mail system with such a valuable document, by all means, get your credit report online. It will show you what you owe and to whom and it will let you know what you need to do to fix your credit so that you can save lots of money in the future.
Tags: credit report
All About The Consumer Credit Report
July 10, 2008
When it comes to buying a home or a car, the most important thing is not how much money you have in the bank but what your consumer credit report says about you and how worthy you are of getting credit. There is nothing else like the consumer credit report when it comes to making a breaking a financial deal. Those who take care of their bills properly will reap the benefits through an excellent score on their credit report. But too many times people fail to realize just how important that report is and will allow things to slip and affect their credit.
If you want to know what is on your consumer credit report, you can request one free copy each year from each of the reporting agencies. There are three major ones that lenders will use to get information on you. It is important to understand just what all is on a consumer credit report so you know what these lenders will be looking at. It is also vital that you make sure that you are up to date with what is being reported about you in order to make sure that mistakes are corrected promptly and that no one is using your name to obtain credit illegally.
What’s on it
Your consumer credit report will have such things like your personal information, which is used to identify thieves who are trying to use your credit. You will find your social security number, your previous and your current address, and your history of employment. Also, there will be a list of your credit history and all of the accounts you have opened up. It will describe how many days late your payments have ever been, how much your current balance is and how much credit you still have open.
Your consumer credit report will also give a list of all credit inquires that has recently been made for credit or credit history. Sometimes these inquires are made at the request of the individual because they are trying to obtain more credit. Then there are other times when companies you currently have credit through does a check up on you without you even realizing it. These are called soft or hard inquiries and the ones, which are just check ups on you, do not affect your score on your consumer credit report. Your credit report is important so make sure you take it seriously.
Tags: credit report
All About Credit Report Companies
July 5, 2008
It is so important that we start teaching our young people of our world that how they pay their bills now will affect them for the rest of their lives. People need to understand that credit report companies have all of their information as to how they pay their bills and how seriously they take their credit rating. Someone who fails to keep their bills paid up on time will find that lenders will have a hard time being convinced that this person deserves more credit. Even if you assume now that you will not need credit in the future, there may come a time that you want to buy a car or a house.
Credit report companies will keep a record of all of the credit accounts that have been opened under your name. They will also know how much you owe and what amount is left for you to charge. Also, information on how you pay your bills and how late they get are on record with the credit report companies. The longer you are with paying your bills on time, the lower your credit score will be. And the lower your credit score gets with the credit report companies, the higher your interest rates will be on new credit that you open since you will be considered a high risk for not paying.
When It’s Wrong
Although we all hope that it never happens to us, there are many cases where people find that thieves have obtained their personal information and have used it for their own financial gain. When this happens, the innocent person may find themselves with a lower credit score with the credit report companies and find that they are denied credit. But the story does not have to end bad as everything can be fixed. It does take several months but your records with the credit report companies can be adjusted to show that you were not the one behind the accounts that were opened.
The best thing to do is to always keep your personal information to yourself and to shred all paperwork that has your personal information before throwing it out into the trash. Also, know that all of the credit report companies are required by law to provide you with one free copy of your credit report each year at your request. By taking advantage of this, you will be able to watch your credit history a lot better and will be able to catch signs of a thief a lot sooner. As soon as you see something that is not right, contact the credit report companies and take action.
Tags: credit report
About Your Government Credit Report
July 1, 2008
When your credit is concerned, it is important to always make sure that you are doing everything in your power to make sure it is protected. A bad government credit report can make or break you when it comes time to get a new car, buy a house, or refinance your mortgage. A bad credit report can take years to repair the damage that can be done in just a matter of a few months. This is way it is so important to make sure that you protect your credit rating so you do not have to suffer for your mistakes later down the road.
You are allowed to request one free government credit report each year so that you are able to be kept up to speed with what your report says about you. This is an excellent way to make sure that no one is stealing and using your credit and so you can seek assistance if there was a mistake on the report. Mistakes do happen since it is not a perfect system as there is no such thing. If there is a mistake though, you are the one that has to take steps to fix it and since fixing a government credit report can take months, it is best to discover the mistake long before you attempt to apply for more credit as you may get turned away.
What You Will See
On your government credit report you will find a lot of information about yourself and this information is used to identify you. There will be such personal information as your name, your current and your past addresses, and your employment history including your most recent place of employment. Also, there will be a listing of every credit account you have including your utilities. There will be record of your payment history with these places as well along with your outstanding balances. All of this helps lenders determine if you should be given more credit.
And then towards the end of the government credit report there will be information detailing who and when your credit report information was given to. This will track everyone and every company that has requested your government credit report history. Keeping all of this in mind, you will see that it truly is important to make sure that you do everything possible to pay all of your bills on time. What you do today could affect you for several years to come.
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