Free Credit Report

Most young people are riddled with free Visa and Mastercard accounts when they graduate from high school and move out from under Mom and Dad’s roof to face the world on their own. When each of my sons graduated from high school and went to college they were peppered with credit card offers, some granting credit lines of up to $1,200.

Thinking that having their own credit card was some sign of success or free license to buy the electronic wonders and clothes of their dreams, they maxed out their credit limits in no time. All without dear old Dad’s knowledge. Thus, began their download spiral in the quicksand pit known as credit card hell.

Being someone from the old school, having grown up poor in the 1950’s and 60’s, I was taught that good credit was a prized possession you earned and never let go of, even if you went without eating. I witnessed the plight of living a bad credit life first hand, seeing my father have not one, but two new automobiles repossessed when his job played out and he couldn’t afford the car payments any longer. Being forced to earn a living and take care of the daily grind and routine of running errands, going to school, etc. without a car was not only difficult, it was embarrassing for me as a kid and very humiliating for my Mom and Dad. I made up my mind then and there that when I grew up I would keep my credit rating impeccable and first rate at all cost.

I’ve been lucky in life, not having to live long periods of time without a job as my father experienced. I’ve had a great career and have always been able to meet my credit responsibilities. When my boys were little I oftened worried that when they saw me paying for a nice meal or buying clothes with a credit card, it might not occur to them that despite how simple buying with plastic might appear, it was really being paid for with my hard earned money.

I grew up being taught that it was important for my sister and I to have more than my Mom and Dad. Thus, I raised my sons the same way, frequently buying the latest video games or seeing that they were always dressed in accordance to the latest fashion trends. And despite my efforts to teach them the value of saving money and keeping good credit, both continue to function without a bank account and neither one has the first clue about how to balance a checkbook. I’m told I’m an old fogie and don’t understand that young people don’t use checkbooks anymore.

In reality the problem is really one of their own. They’re too lazy and careless to listen or practice the life one must live to be successful financially. It hurts to see them live the way they do, but unfortunately its a life too many young people are experiencing these days.

And guess what, the big banks that gave them the free credit cards don’t even care. They quit hounding them for the money a long time ago. Being concerned about how they were somehow tarnishing my family name by not honoring their debts, I foolishly paid off their balances 3 times — only to see them request another card and run their debt up again. After 3 times I said “no mas” and quit taking care of their credit responsiblities.

But the big banks and credit card companies that gave them credit without running credit checks, without regard for the fact they had no money or no jobs at the time they gave them credit cards, simply makes up for their losses by charging the good paying clients like you and I higher interest rates. This is why interest rates on credit card debt is so high in America, its built into their marketing system. It’s just a numbers game. Give out a 1,000 cards to a 1,000 different young people, knowing that only 10% to 15% will honor their debt but they’ll have them on the hook for many years, and make up for their losses on the ones that do hang on by charging high rates.

My advise to young people is that if you’re not going to listen to Mom and Dad, at least go to a good credit information site like All-Credit-Info.com and educate yourself about credit and the importance of good credit before you get yourself in debt. And, if you’re already in debt and needing to clean up your bad credit, visit these information sites to learn how to clean your credit up without it costing you an arm and a leg.

It never seems to amaze me how we parents never become brilliant in the eyes of our children until they have gone out, tested and failed at everything we’ve warned them about for years. As a young man once said, “it’s amazing how smart my Dad became after I turned 21.”

Craig Whitley (see http://www.craigwhitley.com) is a freelance writer that frequently writes about the Internet, consumer trends and online business practices. He specializes in finding and writing about small niche websites like http://www.all-credit-info.com that provide consumers useful free information about important topics and issues.

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Did you apply for a personal loan only to be turned down by a bank or lending institution? Like most people there is always a need to borrow money to buy a car or to renovate a home or even to get a student loan. There are many reasons why people need a loan and lenders turn people down from a loan application based on ones credit rating and credit score. Fortunately there is a way to resolve this situation by obtaining a credit report and checking to see if there are any inaccuracies or items that should not be in the credit report. By cleaning ones credit report it begins the process towards obtaining credit and even better interest rates on loans.

With the costs of living on the rise and the limit that one has on earnings it is easy to understand why borrowing becomes necessary for a lot of people. However, care must be taken to ensure that when money is borrowed it can be paid back to the lender.

There are times when money is borrowed and the borrower has difficulty in meeting the loan requirements and payment schedule as was outlined at the time of obtaining the loan. If there is a good reason for non-payment of loan and if this reason is brought to the attention of a lender in a timely fashion, it is very likely that the lender will be accommodating and suggest a revised payment arrangement.

The problem arises when there is default in loan payments and when the loan is not repaid as agreed upon by borrower and lender. This then gets into the credit reports and becomes part of ones credit history and it becomes a problem for future borrowings.

However, it must be noted that often times there are errors and inaccuracies in ones credit report. These credit report errors can and do affect ones credit rating and places a person as a bad or poor credit candidate. It is therefore very important that the inaccuracies be dealt with and a clean credit report be in place after all the discrepancies in the credit report have been removed.

People with a bad credit report that have a need to clean up their credit have the law on their side which allows them to request a reinvestigation of information in a credit file and dispute it as inaccurate or incomplete. There is no charge for this. Everything a credit repair clinic can do for you legally, you can do for yourself at little or no cost. As per the Fair Credit Reporting Act people are entitled to a free copy of their credit report if denied credit, insurance or employment within the last 60 days. If an application for credit, insurance, or employment is denied because of information supplied by a credit bureau, the company you applied to must provide you with that credit bureau’s name, address, and telephone number.

You can dispute mistakes or outdated items in your credit report for free. Ask the credit reporting agency for a dispute form or submit your dispute in writing, along with any supporting documentation. Do not send them original documents.

Clearly identify each item in your report that you dispute, explain why you dispute the information, and request a reinvestigation. If the new investigation reveals an error, you may ask that a corrected version of the report be sent to anyone who received your report within the past six months. Job applicants can have corrected reports sent to anyone who received a report for employment purposes during the past two years.

When the reinvestigation is complete, the credit bureau must give you the written results and a free copy of your credit report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or removed, the credit bureau cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies its accuracy and completeness, and the credit bureau gives you a written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider.

You should tell the creditor or other information provider in writing that you dispute an item. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider then reports the item to any credit bureau, it must include a notice of your dispute. In addition, if you are correct-that is, if the information is inaccurate-the information provider may not use it again.

If the reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, have the credit bureau include your version of the dispute in your file and in future reports. Remember, there is no charge for a reinvestigation of your credit report.

Reporting Negative Credit Information

Accurate negative information generally can be reported for seven years, but there are exceptions:

Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years;

Information reported because of an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limitation;

Information reported because of an application for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limitation;

Information concerning a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer; and

Default information concerning U.S. Government insured or guaranteed student loans can be reported for seven years after certain guarantor actions.

It pays to view your credit report, check your credit score and to rectify any inaccuracies, which in turn will give you better borrowing power. Visit the following website now for more Info.
http://www.zen-design.org/credit-reports.htm

Julian Pereira has researched the problems associated with poor credit and offers suggestion on obtainging a free credit report and improving credit score. You can obtain more info at http://www.zen-design.org/credit-reports.htm

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Unfortunately your free credit report does not contain your credit score. The Fact Act does entitle consumers to obtain one free copy of their credit report each year, getting the actual credit score is not free. The government allows the consumer credit reporting agencies to charge you a fee to give you your actual credit score number. The scores determined by Experian and Trans Union are not widely used by lenders. The score provided by Equifax however is used by most lenders to determine whether or not they should lend you money and how much interest to charge you. Equifax will sell you its FICO score. It is recommended that you request and pay for this score. Once requested, the consumer credit reporting agencies will provide to you the scores and information on as many as four key factors that are negatively affecting your credit score. This will help you to know and understand what you should do to improve your credit score.

A credit score is a three digit number based on information contained in your credit report as it compares to millions of other people. This system brings your entire credit history to account into one objective number. This number is more or less a statistical prediction of how likely you are to either default or pay your bills on time in the future.

This score will determine your interest rate and if you will get a loan at all. The higher the score, the better your chances are of getting your loan approved as well as giving you a better rate of interest. On a mortgage loan this score can mean savings of many thousands of dollars in interest over the term of the loan.

The FICO score ranges between 300 and 850 and is based on the following factors:

Payment History (35% of score) Amounts Owed (30% of score) Length of Credit History (15% of score) New Credit (10% of score) Types of Credit in Use (10% of score)

This article was written by Kriss Standke who is an accomplished Webmaster and publisher of Free Credit Report Spot, Your Free Credit Reports, as well as Credit Score Resource where he provides detailed and informative articles, tips, and advice on free credit reports, how to get yours, and what to do with the information once you receive it.

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