Check Your Credit Score Regularly
In real life, most people wait until the last minute before checking on their credit scores
. It is only after getting denied on their credit application that many people decide to take a look at their credit reports. But waiting until a lender has rejected your application can prove to be risky. By that time, you may have incurred too many negative entries on your credit report and you may need to wait a longer time to work on improving your credit before you can re-apply for new credit.
Checking Your Credit Score
When the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act was passed, everyone is entitled to get a free copy of their credit reports each year. Therefore, there really is no reason why you should not be aware of the status of your credit. How can you get your free report?
Visit the annualcreditreport.com and exercise your right for a free credit report. This website was put up by the three major credit bureaus- Equifax, Experian and Trans-Union as compliance to the new credit legislation. Take note that you can only receive your free credit report by going to the annualcreditreport website and not from any of the credit bureau's official sites.
Examining your Credit Report
After getting a copy of your credit report, what's next? What particular details on your credit report should you pay attention to? First of all, take a look at the personal information included in your report. Is your name spelled correctly? Does it have your correct home and employment address? Is your Social Security Number correct? What about your Driver's License Number? Remember that a single mistake with any of these information can result to mistaken identity. Thus, you need to make sure that every single detail is accurate.
Next, check your credit history. Your credit history includes the types of debts you have, your debts to different creditors, how long you've had credit, the payments you've submitted, your past due bills (if any), as well as your existing balances. Make sure that all charges in your account are true and correct. If you notice unauthorized charges, call your creditor immediately and point out your corrections.
A letter of dispute should also be sent to the credit reporting agency who issued your report so that an investigation can be started. In your letter, explain clearly the details of the false charges in your report. You can also include a copy of your credit report, with the items in dispute clearly marked. Along with the copy of your report, you can also enclose receipts or documents that can provide support to your claims.
An investigation can take up to 30 days. Within that period, there should already be a response explaining the results of the investigation from the credit bureau. If the issue is cleared, the unauthorized charges from your report should be erased by the credit bureau along with an updated copy of your credit report. Otherwise, you can request the credit bureau to include your letter of complaint with your credit report.
Examining your credit report regularly gives you the option to dispute inaccuracies, should there be any. If in case, your low credit score is a result of your missed payments or frequent late payments, you can also make the necessary changes on your payment habits. This way, by the time that you need to apply for new credit, you can be sure that your application won't be rejected.
Copyright (c) 2009 Suzy Vanstrusen
by: Suzy Vanstrusen
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