Check Your Credit Report And Keep Yourself Calm |
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Lenders are always very careful before they issue credit cards or mortgages or other loans and they check the borrower's creditworthiness by checking their credit report from the credit reporting agencies. When you apply for a loan or credit, your credit score, which is derived from the information in your credit report, is an important criterion in deciding whether you can qualify for that loan or not. You should appreciate the importance of ordering and checking your credit report from the credit reporting agencies as you can then know your true financial position and be able to rectify the problems, if any. It is better that you are aware of your problems before the lenders get to know of them and reject your loan application. The problems could be in the form of failure to pay previous loans, bounced checks, late payments or other problems. If you've had such problems, you may be able to reduce the amount of damage they will do to your credit with explanations or some basic repair. How To Obtain Copies of Your Credit Report? By paying $9 per report (this amount may vary from state to state), you can request and obtain a copy from each of the three major national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can either call the number of the proper credit bureau and follow their instructions, or order it online. You will need to furnish your full name, date of birth, current and former address, Social Security number, your spouse's name and your phone number, if you decide to write to them. The request should be signed by each person requesting for the report. Give yourself enough time before applying for a loan Before you apply for a major loan, you must give yourself enough time after checking your credit report so that you can conveniently correct mistakes or make good on delinquent accounts. The time needed depends upon the type of loan desired by you, which is as follows: In the case of a home loan, check your credit report at least three to six months before you apply for a mortgage, whereas for an auto loan, this along with arranging finance from your bank or credit union should be done before you start shopping. In the case of credit cards, you should check your credit report before you apply. You certainly do not want that a credit report problem should slow down your application--particularly if it's not your fault. What should be checked in your credit report? Having got your credit report, you should check whether the following data is correct: Your name, or names if you are or were married, Social security number, Date of birth, Addresses of places you've lived, Names of places you've worked, Pending accounts and accounts that have been closed, Records of delinquent payments or other problems. You should also ensure that there are no mistakes. The Law Is On Your Side As per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, if any information in your credit report is proven to be false and not removed, you are entitled to actual damages, plus punitive damages that the court may allow if the violation is proved to have been intentional. You will also be awarded court costs and attorney's fees in any successful lawsuit. You may also sue any credit-reporting agency or creditor for breaking the rules about who may see your credit records or for not correcting errors in your file. A lot of people can check your credit report including everyone to whom you have applied for a loan or credit but a person who obtains a credit report without proper authorization--or an employee of a credit reporting agency who gives a credit report to unauthorized persons--may be fined up to $5,000 or imprisoned for one year, or both. However, your potential creditors are authorized to find out if you have been getting turned down and are desperately applying for credit all over town by checking your credit report. |
