| |
A
credit report
is basically a file about you kept by lenders and
banks. As annoying as it may be, it's still
perfectly legal for them to gather all sorts of
details about you. In turn, you have the right to
check this file - and you should do so and inquire
regularly about your credit report and your
credit score,
particularly when you plan a big financial change,
for instance, before applying for a loan or a
mortgage, you should always take time and review
your credit report. This allows you not only to
plan your moves accurately, but also to dispute
any mistakes that might occur in the report.
The
credit report is an accurate record of your
financial activities, including the accounts you
have, the credits you may have taken so far, any
late payments, and the actions started against you
for financial reasons. This report is used to
determine your
credit rating
- which is a number indicating your financial
risks.
The
information typically included in a credit report
refers to your personal identification data,
credit information, public record information and
a list of recent inquiries. The personal
identification data, as you may expect, means your
name, social security number, address (current and
previous addresses), employer (also current and
previous), your birth date, and so on. If
applicable, your file may contain similar
information about your spouse.
The
credit information is your financial history -
your accounts, loans and repayment records for the
past two years, from all the banks, lenders,
retailers, card issuers, other credit companies,
and so on. The public record information records
bankruptcy, monetary judgments and tax liens.
The
list of recent inquiries contains the names of
those who obtained your credit report in the past
year. Various people and organizations may get
access to your credit report, usually anybody who
can prove a legitimate business interest,
creditors, insurers, employers and governmental
agencies. This list is kept for one year, while
the
credit history
information is kept for seven years, and, if you
file for bankruptcy, that sticks for ten years.
If
you want to see your credit report, you need to
check with the respective reporting agency. A
reporting agency is a company that maintains and
updates the database, and sells the reports to
those who are interested. There are many such
credit bureaus
all over the country, serving local markets, and
three major, long-established ones:
Equifax,
Trans Union and
Experian
(formerly TRW). These are the companies you need
to contact when you want to see your credit report
- online, at http://www.equifax.com, http://www.transunion.com
and http://www.experian.com, or offline, by
calling them or writing to them.
When you ask for your credit report, you will be
required to provide your personal info (name,
address, social security number, and so on,
sometimes for your spouse as well, where
applicable). Also, a small fee applies. From
Equifax, the 3-in-1 credit report (meaning a
complete credit history from all three credit
reporting agencies) is $29.95 or $39.95 for the
credit report with the credit score included. At
Trans Union, the complete 3-in-1 credit report is
$29.95 (the online version), with one free credit
score. If you want all three
credit scores,
you'll need to pay an additional $9.95. From
Experian, the complete
credit reports
from the three credit bureaus costs $34.95, and
includes a Free Experian credit score. It is
important to view results from all three major
credit bureaus, because they don't share
information among them, and because lenders may
report to one or another of these bureaus, so
results may not always match.
The
Fair Credit Reporting Act
entitles each consumer to one free disclosure
every 12 months. Also, you can avoid these fees if
you request to see your credit report within 60
days of having been denied credit or insurance
because of the report. Also, you don't have to pay
if you're on welfare, you're unemployed and intend
to look for a job within 60 days or your report
contains mistakes due to fraud.
|
|
