Free Credit Report: When Are You Eligible for it? |
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Are you looking for a free credit report? Do you want to improve your credit score? Why don't you view your free credit report on any of the websites of the three national credit-reporting agencies? A free credit report is your right according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the laws of several states. According to one recent amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, each of the three national credit-reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) should provide a free copy of their credit report to all the consumers, once every 12 months. The good news is that the law has been already rolled out in some of states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Besides, residents of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont are entitled by state law to one free credit report per year from a credit-reporting agency. Your free credit report is a very important document. It's important not only because it comes for free, but also because it includes a lot of information about your credit status. Your credit rating, which is determined by your credit score, is clearly depicted in your credit report. When you order your credit report online, you can also order your credit score. This is a numerical depiction of your creditworthiness using many of the same criteria considered by the leading consumer credit scoring companies. It gives you a general idea of how lenders may view your credit standing. Moreover, it illustrates what factors affect your credit standing and how you can improve it. If your credit rating is low, don't be disheartened. The credit-reporting agencies provide the necessary help and suggestions to improve your credit score. Besides, if you find any kind of error in your free credit report, you are encouraged to contact the credit-reporting agencies. You need to provide your name, address (present and past), social security numbers, date of birth, and your spouse's name. When the agency gets this information, it initiates an investigation by contacting your creditors. If the agency is unable to repair any of the disputes, it must delete them. In fact, several consumers have eliminated negative marks from their free credit report simply by going through the process of disputing their credit records. By federal law, you are entitled to one free credit report per year directly from a credit-reporting agency only if you certify that: you are unemployed and are seeking employment in the next 60 days, you are receiving public assistance, or you believe there are inaccuracies in your credit report due to fraud or identity theft. Before you ask for a free copy of your credit report, it's beneficial for you to verify the following things: --Don't think that your personal information is always correct. You could be viewing information from someone else's free credit report with just a simple error such as: first name misspelled, missing Jr./Sr., erroneous address or zip code, wrong employer, or any other incorrect personal data. --Ensure whether your marital status is correctly mentioned. --Find out if a closed account has been listed again. --Accounts should not appear twice even in separate sections. --Information about late payment histories should be mentioned properly, if there is any. --A former correction to your credit file, which has since disappeared, should be brought to the agency's attention A free credit report is undoubtedly a highly useful document. But it is important to note that each credit reporting agency maintains it's own files on consumers, and more often than not, each report will be different from that of the other two agencies. Businesses, employers, and lenders may elect to check your credit report from any, or all, of the three agencies. Therefore, to conduct a thorough review of your credit files, you really need to review your report from all the three agencies. |
