Free Credit Report

Taking Care of Business

Actively guard your credit. Before you consider buying a home or car, refinancing or remodeling, or other major credit purchases, get a copy of your credit report and score, or go to one of the free credit report web sites.

Identity theft is also becoming more and more of a problem. I’ve personally seen how damaging it can be, both with a sibling and clients, who had their identities stolen and had credit cards opened in their names. Cost my client about six months of waiting time and during that time, rates went up, ouch.

You want to see in advance exactly what the lender will see. Lenders may be able to help you fix problems, but don’t count on it. Generally, preventing these problems yourself, or fixing, them before you speak with a lender is best.

Since it can take 30-90 days to resolve disputes and inaccuracies and … …Take care of your credit first… then go shopping!

The first step would be to see your credit report, or as lenders say, “run” your credit.

Those who run your credit, lender’s, etc., run what is called a Tri- Merged Credit Report. As the term implies, it is the merging of the reports from the three big credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

Tri-Merged reports are $30-$40. They are very important for you to see, because any company that runs your credit is going to run a tri-merged report on you.

Don’t you want to know exactly what they will see?

Each credit bureau, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, collect their information independently of each other.

For that reason certain bureaus may have different information than the others.

It is often very similar, however, I have personally seen very different reports between the bureaus on occasions.

Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find a free tri-merged report, there are a number of free services, however they only run credit from a single bureau.

Here as and example of one I ran the other day

Personal Profile - contains the spelling of your name, correct addresses and so on. Should be correct, because it’s based on your social security #, but look it over just to be sure.

Credit Summary - provides a summary of your credit, present and past.

Credit Inquiries - shows you those who run your credit in the past two years.

Account History - * The Important Part! * Shows the credit you have and have had in the past. Each area is the creditor and it will show you the account name, account number, the account type, status, monthly payment, date opened, balance, terms, high balance in the last two years, credit limit, past due, remarks and payment status. Credit you’ve had in the past two years will appear on this. If it’s a closed account, but the report shows it as open, you’ll want to contact the creditor and make sure the account is closed. Even if you asked before, they may not have closed the account. Areas to be concerned about are;

Make sure such accounts are really yours. Look at each account and see if it looks correct, date open, balance, etc.

Accounts reported as late or derogatory. Were you really late on that account? If you don’t think you were late, you should contact that creditor and the agency to have the item investigated.

Other negative items, such as Collection Accounts or negative Public Records, make sure these items are accurate.

If you find other discrepancies on the report, especially accounts, which aren’t yours, you’ll want to contact the creditor and get more information.

It may have only been put on your report by mistake.

Be safe though and call the creditor.

You’ll want to start with the creditor first, but if the creditor is unhelpful go ahead and contact credit bureau directly.

Based on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, sections 612 (b), (c), and (d), you have the right to a free credit report from Credit Report Agencies if (paraphrased) you;

are the recipient of an adverse action (for example, denial of credit) due to information contained in the Consumer Report;

are unemployed;

are a recipient of public welfare assistance.

Go to How-Is-Your-Credit.info And Learn More About Your Credit And Why Your Credit Report is Important and The Credit Bureaus’ Contact Information.

Tags: account history, credit inquiries, free credit report, identity theft, tri mergedaccount history, credit inquiries, free credit report, identity theft, tri merged

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As a number of identity theft victims now know first-hand, a California free credit report can end up in the wrong hands. Your most personal information…social security number, date of birth, mother and father’s details, your children and even pets’ names, your residence address…along with your actual credit cards and even bank account details can be vulnerable to electronic pilfering.

You need your private data kept private. Yet, you also routinely share aspects of your private data in cash-less transactions you make all day. Think of going to the supermarket, getting your hair done, paying bills and mortgage online, bidding on Ebay, buying from any number of favorite online web shops, getting an oil change for your car. The most mundane daily activities “expose” you to identity theft, especially credit card ID theft.

Everyone wants a secure purchase, but is it?

California Straddling The Privacy Rights Line. The “business” of California includes embarrassing enrichment of the State’s coffers at the expense and risk of over 25 million Californians. How so? Like other states, California has sold to private online contractors the State’s birth index containing private and confidential personal records of around 25 million residents. Worse, the State joins other state bureaucrats in a bid-and-sell game of revenue enhancement, selling private citizens data to commercial loan marketing firms.

In 2002 Florida actually passed into law a bill that required real estate appraisers to publish over 500,000 real estate owners’ social security numbers! It doesn’t get more stupid by government…or more easy for criminals!

All of this “stuff” happens outside the light of day.

Elected pols jump on the “privacy” band wagon, actively claiming consumer protection advocacy. However, the reality speaks to the money side of your data.

How Bad Guys “Mine” California’s State Data Base. What begins as theft of your hand bag, wallet or car quickly snowballs into a major financial problem for identity theft victims. California’s state Uniform Commercial Code or UCC data base contains personal social security numbers, drivers license and supporting background private information. Once the bad guys “sting” you, then they rapidly penetrate the State’s data base, trolling for additional personal and financial details which they’ll use to plunder your accounts.

Getting Control Over Your California Credit Report. Crime stats show a staggering 80% increase in “reported” credit card identity theft crimes nationally. Unreported and unknown cases of identity theft may account for potentially 50% more cases. You’re looking at billions of dollars “vanishing” as technology-enabled criminals scoop up raw data from unsecured merchant sites, or simply buy data on the open market. Once these criminals take over just one of your financial accounts, all hell breaks loose in terms of your credit status. California credit repair boils down to specific steps you’ll take to formally notify the big 3 credit bureaus, Transunion, Experian and Equifax.

California Credit Freeze Law. Fortunately California passed a law effective 1 January 2003 that permits any citizen to trigger a California credit freeze. You don’t need to show that you’re an ID theft victim in order to freeze your credit records. You’ll pay an initial fee of $10 and a total of about $30 to lock-down your credit records so that no credit bureau can reply to any request “without first obtaining your permission”.

On the other hand, if you’ve been ripped-off via credit card identity theft, then California waives its fees and allows you to initiate a full force California credit freeze without limitation. Remember too that once you’ve proven ID theft via a valid police report, you only have minimal legal responsibility for payments. Banks and credit card companies bear the brunt of pay-back responsibility.

How Long Does California Credit Freeze Last And What Are The Fees? Coverage time frames? The law states “indefinite”, so you can get back in control either before the damage occurs or after you’ve been hit by the bad guys.

Once you’ve completed your California credit repair, you can elect to “unfreeze” your State file by sending in $10 fee to get a temporary date-range limited for each credit reporting agency or a $12 fee to permit an agency to share your data with a single creditor-applicant.

Be proactive. If you’re a California resident or if you have assets and interests in other states, then you need to dig into the protections available to consumers in defending against identity theft. For more resources please go to:-

Identity Theft: http://www.wise4living.com/lidtheft/

How To Repair Credit: http://www.wise4living.com/lidtheft/repair.htm

Author Robin Derry is publisher for http://www.wise4living.com/ a specialty information site that gives solutions to health, household, sport, travel and legal needs.

Tags: california credit card, credit card id theft, credit freeze law, free credit report, identity theftcalifornia credit card, credit card id theft, credit freeze law, free credit report, identity theft

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You can obtain a FREE Credit Report from Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union by completing and mailing the Annual Credit Report Request Form to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. This form can be printed from www.ftc.gov/credit There is also a toll free telephone number to call to request a copy of your free credit report: 1-877-322-8228. You will need to provide the following information to get your free credit reports: Your Social Security number, your name and address including your previous address if you have moved in the past two years, your date of birth, as well as some other information that only you would know such as the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.

If you request a copy of your free credit report online, you will be able to obtain it right away. If you call in or mail your request with the Annual Credit Report Request Form, your request will be processed and mailed to you within 15 business days after its receipt. This time period may take longer if the nationwide consumer reporting company needs more information to confirm your identity. If there happens to be an abnormally high volume of requests for free credit reports at the time you request yours, you will be notified that your report will be mailed to you sometime after 15 days of receipt.

To purchase a copy of your credit report, you may call the consumer reporting companies direct with the following telephone numbers:

Equifax: 1-800-685-1111 Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (1-888-397-3742) Trans Union: 1-800-916-8800

The cost to buy a copy of your credit report is generally $9.50 or less for each agency.

Each nationwide consumer reporting company gets information from different sources so the information contained in any one report may not be the same. The information may not reflect all of your credit info so requesting a free copy of your credit report from all three major agencies is the best way to get the full story of your credit.

This article was written by Kriss Standke who is an accomplished Webmaster and publisher of Free Credit Report Spot, Credit Score Resource, and Check Credit Report Online 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.

Tags: Credit Repair, Credit Score, Equifax, Experian, FICO, free credit report, identity theft, Trans UnionCredit Repair, Credit Score, Equifax, Experian, FICO, free credit report, identity theft, Trans Union

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