Free Credit Reports for People of Maine |
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Free credit report is one of the handiest tools to precisely evaluate your credit standing. A favorable credit report is definitely something commendable. If, however, your result is tarnished like that of millions of Americans, which is most often a direct result of misuse of credit cards, then perhaps it's time for "plastic" surgery. Regardless of how bad your current credit record looks, with a sincere desire and a concerted effort to turn it around, in time your credit will improve. View your free credit report regularly and get updated with the latest credit rating in your report. Where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you've been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy--all can be viewed on your free credit report. In fact, the three national credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) gather information about the borrower and sell it to banks, credit card vendors, credit unions, finance companies, insurance companies, landlords, employers, and so on. These companies use the information to verify and supplement the data provided by consumers in an application for a credit card, loan, insurance, housing, and employment. Whether or not the applicant is approved, to a large degree, depends on what is contained in the credit report. Getting a free copy of your credit report will be much easier soon, thanks to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act), a revision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. According to this act, the three major credit-reporting agencies are required to provide consumers a free credit report, upon their request, once every 12 months from a centralized source. Depending on where you live, you can now get copy of your free credit report from the three major consumer reporting companies. Under state laws, consumers in seven states can already get their reports for free. These states are Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont. "This new law is a valuable tool in the fight to reduce identity thefts, mixed credit files and erroneous credit denials," said Will Lund, director of the state agency that administers the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The law ensures that Maine residents along with the residents of these six other states are now able to easily correct any inaccurate information in their free credit reports. These errors can be with any of the details -the consumer's name, address, spouse's name, social security numbers, phone numbers, and so on. The crucial point is that if consumers find any kind of error or mistake in their credit report, they must write to the credit-reporting agency and ask them to investigate each disputed item. Maine law requires that the investigation be completed by the free credit-reporting agency within 21 calendar days. If at the end of that period you are proven correct, or if the original information cannot be verified, the agency must remove the information from its records, said Lund. But before requesting a copy of his/her free credit report from any of the three national credit bureaus, the consumer needs to fill a form that has been developed by The Office of Consumer Credit Regulation (OCCR). You can get the form by requesting at 1-800-DEBT-LAW or by simply logging onto the Web site www.MaineCreditReg.org. But you need to provide some of your important personal information like your first, middle and last name (including Jr., III, etc.); current address including zip code; social security numbers; date of birth; and former addresses for the previous 5 years. To be true, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the credit reporting agencies have the responsibility to correct any inaccuracy in your free credit report. But the bottom line is that you should review your credit report at least once a year. Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the right to see a copy of your report, which is maintained by the three national credit bureaus and may also be collected by local credit agencies. If you have been denied credit in the past sixty days, you are entitled by law to receive a free copy of your report from the credit bureau that issued it. |
