Why Should I Review My Free Credit Report Periodically |
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Do you know the importance of reviewing your free credit report? Are you concerned about your credit status? Then, why don't you check a copy of your free credit report? The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has made it mandatory for credit-reporting agencies to provide a copy of free credit report to all the consumers, once in a year. For this purpose, the Fair Credit Reporting Act asked the three national credit-reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) to set up a central source to provide the report to customers. The centralized source includes a website, annualcreditreport.com, a toll free phone number, 877-322-8228, and a mailing address, Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281. All three major credit-reporting agencies of America have their own websites. But the Fair Credit Reporting Act has made the amendment that all the big three are liable to provide the free credit report to the consumers only through the above mentioned central location, and not through their individual websites, telephone numbers, or addresses. A free credit report is very important for the consumers because it allows them an up-to-date look at their credit status. A credit status is nothing but your creditworthiness that is determined on the basis of your credit score. If your credit score is high, you can apply for any kind of loan. Another benefit of a good credit score is that you would get a very low interest rate on the loan that you have asked for. But if your credit score were low, things would be just the opposite. You not only face difficulties in accessing your loan, but also need to pay more interest rates on the loan. That is why it's always a good idea to check your free credit report from time to time and take corrective measures if required. You derive some other benefits as well from your free credit report. If you apply for a copy of your free credit report through the centralized source, the credit-reporting agencies would provide you educational materials also. These educational materials explain the content, how to handle inaccuracies, and how to protect yourself from identity theft. Moreover, you can get tremendous help from the Annual Credit Report Request Service that works hand in hand with the credit reporting agencies. Whenever you detect any kind of error in your free credit report, you need to inform the credit-reporting agencies as early a possible. A certified credit report review specialist will go over the information in your credit report and try to figure out a possible solution to your problem. The specialist would contact the creditors on behalf of the credit-reporting agencies and try to investigate the matter. But for that, you need to provide your personal information once more. Your personal information includes your name, address (present and past), social security numbers etc. It's necessary for you to apply for your free credit report through the centralized source. But you also have the right to request for a free credit report directly from the credit bureaus under certain circumstances. You may be eligible for free reports if: --You have been denied credit, housing, employment, or insurance based on the information in your credit report within the last 60 days (from the bureau that supplied the information). --Adverse action was taken against you based on the information contained in your free credit report --You certify that you are unemployed and plan to seek employment within 60 days. --You certify that you are receiving public benefits. --Your report is inaccurate due to fraud. To wrap up, a free credit report is an important statement that every consumer should check regularly. If you find any kind of error while checking your credit report, you should immediately apply to the bureaus to get it corrected because your credit error may hang on your report for years and cause serious damage to your credit rating. |
