Free Credit Report

The Problem

I was driving home from the store the other night when I noticed a license plate that made me laugh to myself and then I proceeded to feel sorry for the poor sap driving. The plate read “0 DOWN”. It was a white, shiny, new Ford Explorer (probably an 06′). Here’s what really got me about the caption: Not only did this consumer purchase a brand new vehicle with no money down, but he was proud of it. DUMB! Commercial advertisements and society as a whole embeds the “Buy Now, Pay Later” method into our heads and it works so well that around 90% of all consumers who purchase new cars do not put $5 down on the vehicle before signing the papers. The sad fact is, is that the average new automobile loses $3,000 as soon as it leaves the lot. Technically, you have gone into debt for something that loses value before you even use it. As if this wasn’t depressing enough, the less money you put down on a car and the worse off your credit is, the more you pay for the car. If this isn’t one big sand trap I don’t know what is!

The Role of Your Credit Report

Your online credit report is affected 2 ways when you buy a new car with no money down. First let’s look at the role it plays after you decide you NEED that shiny new sports car. The mass majority of consumers are thinking of one thing when they sit in the ’sales chair’ to go through the paperwork: driving the car home (man this is bringing back some bad, bad memories). In order to do this you will need to finance the vehicle which requires pulling up your credit history and your credit report. This can easily be done online right in the sales office while you look around to make sure no one else tries to sneak off with your new toy. The worse off your credit report is, the higher interest rate you will pay. (This is fine though as long as you can still afford to buy food every other week and pay a few bills here and there.)
The other role that your credit report plays in this game is the after-effect. The average new car buyer’s car payment is 25-30% of their total income. This creates a nice, big road block on your credit report in itself for when you are ready to make another large purchase. Not to mention when you fall behind on even one payment and your credit file takes a hard blow. Try to keep these factors in mind next time the kid in you tries to make a financial decision.

The Solution

Well you’re not going to like the best solution but here it is anyway: PAY FOR THE CAR IN FULL! If you saved the car payment every month in a good money market account; not only would you save time and money, but when you walked into the sales office with piles of hundred dollar bills you would get quite a deal! Okay, so you’re more likely to win the super lotto than do that right?
Well here are a few ideas. As long as you practice a few you might get ahead of this nasty game a little bit or at least protect your online credit report. First, consider getting a 2 or 3 year old car. You can still get a shiny one and the previous owner will have taken the major depreciation of the vehicle passing the savings directly to you. Second, if you can, try waiting and searching to find the best deal possible. Trust me, there is more than 1 of those cars in the market. Third, put something down. Anything! For starters you could put down 10 to 15%. This will lower your monthly payment, lower your interest rate and maybe even cut your payoff time down. Lastly, get a bargain. Don’t settle for the asking price by any means. Be patient and keep control of your focus. One definition of maturity is learning to delay pleasure.

To read more about how you can get your online credit report free with no obligations, see what is on your file and find out how to fix your credit report go to http://www.cleancreditonline.com

Tom Justice is the webmaster for Clean Credit Online and does all the designing, marketing, SEO and maintenance the site. He has a passion for personal finance and how the economy and consumers are affected by money. To see how you can use Clean Credit Online to help you with your personal finances please visit http://www.cleancreditonline.com
“Cars and Credit Reports” - © (2005) Reprinting is allowed assuming all content is left the same.

Share This

The process of Credit Repair is laborious and is not easy, but you need to do it for your sound financial health. A bad credit score or a report can adversely affect your ability to seek financial products such as loans, credit cards and the like. You miss a payment here, pile up some debts elsewhere, and suddenly find things getting out of control.

A bad credit score stops you from obtaining further loans, financial help or credit cards, or else you get these by paying exorbitant interest rates. Everyone needs credit at some time or the other, and the faster you arrange for credit repairs, the better for you.

The following steps will guide you to repair your credit yourself:

*Get Credit Reports - Contact the three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - and obtain your credit reports from them. All three reports may not be the same, but will indicate errors of omissions, misreporting, misinformation, or misinterpretation. Peruse the reports carefully and note all the errors you find. There may be credits you have cleared but have not yet appeared in the reports. There may be factual errors, or accounts you have not opened.

*Contact the Credit Bureaus - For fraudulent accounts that do not belong to you, contact the credit bureaus and lodge a complaint. These accounts need to be removed from your credit report.

*Contact Creditors - Your report may have negative comments from your creditors, or may still be showing debts you have already cleared. Contact your creditors to have this sorted out. Never give up communicating with your creditor. Sometimes a phone call is enough to reverse an anomaly. The negative comments may be true and if at present your account is in a good state, talking to your creditor can help to remove this. Fewer the negative comments on your report, the better it is for you.

If the creditor is being extra difficult about a negative comment, or a debt, that should not be there, and you can back up your case with documents, you may have to file a dispute.

*Reduce Your Debts - Check the total debts you have. Too much debt can affect your credit rating. Creditors will be leery of granting you credit lines or extra loans. Too much debt does not speak well of your financial health, and you may have to pay higher rates of interest. Work out ways to reduce your debts, by paying off the debts with higher interest rates first.

Credit repairs will take time and effort, but you need to start immediately.

Learn more about finance and debt control at: Quick Loan Companies and Articles Needed On Finance

Share This

What’s my Credit Rating? Why is it important?

If you’re like most of us, you probably don’t even think about your credit rating until it’s time to apply for a credit card, mortgage or car loan. A little known fact is that people with a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ credit rating can pay a significantly lower interest rate when they borrow money. This wonderful news can mean a savings to you of hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the life of a loan. Why do banks and credit unions give you preferred treatment when you have a good credit rating? Because you have proven to them that you are trustworthy in handling money, pay your bills on time and are responsible for paying back your loans.

What is a credit report and how can I get one?

A credit report is a list of how much credit (money in the bank, equity in your house) you have available, how much debt (unpaid credit card balance, car loan, unpaid mortgage balance) you have and a record of how well you pay your bills in a timely manner. Thanks to the newly enacted Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, you can receive one FREE credit report a year from any of the 3 major credit bureaus. You may contact Equifax at www.equifax.com or 800-685-111. You may contact Experian at www.experian.com or 888-397-3742. Or you may contact Trans Union at www.transunion.com or 800-916-8800.

What’s my FICO score?

The first step to improving your credit rating is to know what your FICO (Fair, Isaac; named for the company that created it) score is. Your FICO number tells your lender how likely you are to pay back your loan on time. Your FICO score can range from 300 to 850; the higher the score the better. Your FICO score is not listed on your free credit report but can be purchased from any of the 3 major credit bureaus listed above, for less than $10. Is knowing your FICO score worth $10? Absolutely. Or if you have recently applied for a loan, your lender may be able to tell you what your score is.

What practical difference does my FICO score really make?

Let’s suppose that you have found your dream house and go to apply for a mortgage. If you have an ‘ok’ FICO score of 620 you may qualify for an interest rate of 7.5%. Now if you have an ‘excellent’ FICO score of 775, you may qualify for a lower interest rate of 5.9%. Big deal you say? What if I told you that you could save over $3500 a year (a year!) for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage on a loan for $220,000. That’s a big deal! The average FICO score is 723. You want to aim to have yours be even higher than that and begin to save money on every loan you have.

OK, I’ve got my credit report, now what?

Go over your credit report with a fine tooth comb looking for errors and inaccuracies. You may be surprised to find credit cards listed on your report that you no longer use, inaccurately reported late payments, or credit cards listed that you’ve never even applied for. In my next lesson, we’ll discuss what to do if your FICO score is less than it could be and how to repair errors and inaccuracies to your credit report.

Beth Gabriel is a successful Webmaster and publisher of PrePaid-Legal-Help-4U.com. She provides more Identity Theft information and reviews on Credit Reports that you can read on her website from the comfort of your home at 2:00 am!

Share This