Credit And Credit Cards

A credit report is run on a buyer when he or she needs to buy something that will take a long-term loan, such as an automobile or a house. The credit report can come from one of three agencies - Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Each of these three agencies uses their own techniques of arriving at a credit score and receiving credit information, so attention should be paid to all three. A credit report score can go up to 800, and an increase of 50 points is a big one, enabling borrowers to get loans they previously were denied, and getting loans at much better interest rates. A 1% drop in an interest rate on a $150,000 house, for instance, may drop a payment by over $100 a month, saving the borrower over $35,000 over the life of the 30-year loan.

Each of these credit agencies have taken all the financial information they can find about you and tabulated a credit score from those results. Information will include your current and previous home addresses and employers, the credit cards and loans you have, and any late payments made over the last ten years. These agencies’ credit reports will be very similar, but there will be differences, as they all make mistakes, and the banks and credit card companies giving them the information make mistakes, too.

Here’s where you can improve your credit score. Any request for a change in information in a credit report must be answered and corrected within 30 days because federal law regulates the credit bureaus. If you write in to a credit bureau complaining that one of the late payments on your credit report is wrong, they must investigate and correct the information within the 30 days, or delete the information. Because this deadline is very difficult to make, often the late payment report is simply deleted off of the credit report.

This procedure is very slow and time-consuming, and you can either do it yourself or hire an agency to do it for you. Each letter should only request one change, otherwise the credit bureau will usually declare the request to be frivolous and thus they are not required to do anything. Each letter should be written to all three credit reporting agencies. These agencies, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, all have PO boxes specifically set up for complaints, but they change the PO Boxes often to make it difficult for customers to find. Every month you, or the agency you have hired, should send out another letter referring to a different mistake in your credit report. After many months, your credit report will show many fewer late payments, perhaps even none, and your credit score will have improved dramatically.

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If you’ve ever applied for a credit card or loan, you’ve
probably had your credit report reviewed by the lender. Your
credit report has a huge impact on your financial future, so
it’s well worth your time to be sure that you understand what
your credit report says about you.

Even if you’re not interested in obtaining credit, your
credit report can impact other areas of your life. Potential
employers view your credit report to assess your
trustworthiness as an employee. Landlords frequently check
the credit reports of their tenants before allowing them to
sign or renew their lease.

You can request copies of your report from the three major
credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A recent
amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires
each of these national consumer reporting companies to
provide you with a yearly free copy of your credit report
upon your request.

Basically, your credit report is a summary of how you pay
your bills; repay loans; how much credit you have available;
what your monthly debts are; and other types of information
that can help a prospective lender decide if you are a good
credit risk.

Your credit report is made up of several sections. The first
section contains personal identifying information such as
your name, current and previous addresses, social security
number, telephone number, birth date, and your current and
previous employers.

Your bill paying history with banks, retail stores, finance
companies, mortgage companies, and others who have granted
you credit is one of the most important parts of your credit
report.

Public records that might indicate your credit worthiness,
such as tax liens, court judgments, and bankruptcies are also
included in the section detailing your credit history.

Your credit report includes a comprehensive listing of all
credit granters and other individuals who have received a
copy of your credit report. In addition, lists of companies
that have received your name and address in order to offer
you credit are also included in your credit report.

Most credit bureaus allow both the consumer and the creditor
to make statements if there is a dispute about something on
the report. If applicable, your credit report will include
these dispute statements.

Your credit report does not include bank account balances,
race, religion, health, criminal records, driving records, or
annual income. You’ve probably heard about a FICO credit
score as well. Credit scores are based on formulas that use
the information in your report, but they’re not considered
part of your credit report.

Problems with your credit report will result in you either
being denied credit or receiving a higher interest rate. Red
flags on your credit report include excessive applications
for additional credit, a short credit history, a high debt
ratio, and late payments to previous creditors.

In most cases, negative information will stay on your report
for seven years. However, bankruptcy information stays on
your credit report for ten years.

To help improve your credit report, always remember to close
unused accounts, pay your bills on time, never use all of
your available credit, and don’t apply for unnecessary
credit.

Copyright (c)2005 by Michael Ambrosio. You may publish this
article on your site or in your newsletter provided this
resource box remains in tact. Michael Ambrosio is the author
of many credit related articles. Visit his website today:
http://www.yourcreditandyou.com and rebuild your credit.

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There is no end to the amount of pain that your credit report can cause you. If you have a bad credit history this is something that can follow you around and wreak havoc on your life without you even knowing it. Do you know how many people did not get a job because their credit report was awful? Thousands and how many do you think realized that that was the reason they did not get a call back? I would venture to say a big fat zip. Credit counts for everything nowadays and it is only going to count for more in the future.

Whenever you apply for a job, an apartment, a loan or for credit your report is likely going to get looked at. No one wants to get involved with an unreliable person, especially those who are going to have to depend on this person for some important reason, like a rent check or to keep their business running. That is why people with bad credit find themselves getting the short end of the stick all of the time.

If you have found yourself getting rejected an awful lot lately you may want to sneak a peek at your credit report to see if that is the reason. Even if you have never owned a credit card you may still have bad credit. They are not the only things that get reported to the credit bureaus. If you have any bills in your name, car insurance, heating, anything at all, whether you make your payments or not are all finding their way onto your credit report.

Everyone should be checking their report at least once a year to see how they are doing. If you want to get yours you can visit Equifax, Experian or TransUnion online today to get your free copy.

Martin Lukac, represents http://www.RateEmpire.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies! Visit http://www.RateEmpire.com today.

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