No matter which credit bureau you approach, consumers are entitled to a free credit report each year. Nonetheless, consumers are sometimes wary about getting a free credit score report. Your free credit report check could be a very handy tool when it comes to managing your credit. Your free credit report not only lets you see what your credit score is but also allows you to track your progress since you’re last credit report. If you are a victim of identity theft your credit report could be a good indicator of that. Hence it is essential that you understand the common misconceptions surrounding your free credit report. [...]
In the recent past the US has seen a surge in credit card debt and has increased 25% since the last decade. At present, nearly three quarters of all US homes have a credit card with nearly half of those carrying a credit card balance. By the end of 2008 the penalty interest paid by customers had hit nearly 15 billion dollars.
Credit scoring reports are determined based on several different factors and your credit card balance is one such factor. Factors such as late payments, too many credit inquiries, defaults on repayments, bankruptcy etc; all influence your credit score. To build good credit and a high credit score it is important to keep all these factors in check. While the balance of your credit card accounts do impact your credit rating, if all the other factors are fine, your credit scoring report will not be heavily impacted by your credit card balance.
As per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, every adult American citizen has the right to receive a free annual credit report from each of the three credit bureaus. However, many people are either not aware of this right or are not sure how to go about getting a free copy of credit report. As a result, there is many a credit report scam, conning people into paying money for getting something that is already theirs.
Unfortunately credit report errors and identity theft are no longer rare occurrences these days. While credit report problems are not uncommon, the average person is still unaware that they are protected against unfair credit reporting methods by the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) For Consumer Credit Worthiness
The FCRA and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act together form the basis of the American consumer credit system. Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission in 1970, the Fair Credit Report Act is federal law and grants consumers certain rights to protect them from unfair credit reporting methods.
James Marland was having issues with his credit report and decided to seek advice from a credit repair company. However, after weighing the costs and pros and cons of a credit repair service, he decided to help himself instead and fix his own credit report.
James’ story puts into perspective the question “Are credit repair services actually needed?” or is credit restoration possible without help from them?
Credit Repair Services – Why They Are Needed
Credit repair services find their place in today’s complex environment owing to the fact that there is a lot of negotiation involved with third parties in order to repair your credit report.
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Numerous credit consumers have to face rejection from financial institutions owing to credit errors which were not caused by them. It is therefore important to repair your credit report and improve your score as soon as possible.
Alison had a credit card with a credit institution. Although Alison had been very regular with her payments, owing to a system error, her payments were not recorded and were being credited to another account. Her account showed defaults for over two and half months. Alison was completely unaware of this, till she applied for a mortgage. Her application was rejected owing to her repayment history.
There is a wealth of information on the internet about rebuilding your credit report and credit score. However most of them are pretty much saying the same thing and only a few provide really helpful information to help rebuild your credit report. Rebuilding your credit report might seem like a complicated task, so here are a few simple tips to help you along the process.
Where to Begin [...]
Rebuilding credit report a difficult but possible task
Internet is replete with information about rebuilding credit report and credit score, but the pity is that most of them are almost the same in a different way, and only few have something for you that can be really helpful to rebuild your credit report. If you are also looking for rebuilding your credit report, you must keep this fact in mind that establishing good credit record is easier than rebuilding it. But it is possible and you can achieve the desired results with better planning and thorough follow up.
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Your credit report and high risk fraud alert
A statement on credit report, which asks your lenders to make verification of your ID before giving away some credit on your account, is known as a fraud alert. You must get a free copy of your credit report if you are going to add the fraud alert on it.
How long fraud alerts remain on your credit report
These security alerts remain on your credit report for 90 days and it is shared with other credit bureaus as well. Thus, you can find sometime to check whether your credit report is free from credit fraud or not. If you do not find any, you need to let this alert expire on your credit report.