A Free Credit Report Provides a View of Report Annually


A free credit report helps you determine how your credit is being reported to potential new creditors. You can pay to have your credit report printed, but it?s always better to get it for free. A free credit report is available once per year. You are able to get all three reports by Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian.

The big three credit bureau reporting agencies house all of your credit paying information and personal information. There are some smaller companies that are local but their information feeds in from Trans Union, Equifax and Experian as well. By obtaining a free credit report, you will have access to three reports that will give you a pretty good idea what your credit file will look like to whoever pulls the file.

Obtain a free credit report to show if you are having problems with identity theft. Thieves can steal information from you to open accounts on your behalf. They charge up the accounts and never pay them off leaving you stuck with them. When you review your report, look to see if there is anything opened recently that you do not remember. Contact the creditor to see if you can find out more information on it. You may have just forgotten or it may be in another name. If it is not one of those two items, then it could be a fraudulent account.

There are many different things that can show on your credit bureau report. It will show how you pay for your credit cards. If you have been late on a payment to your credit card company, it will show as 30 days delayed and so on as appropriate. The free credit report will also show what your current balance is on the credit cards and how much the assigned credit line. If your balance is close to your assigned credit line it will reflect that in your credit score. Typically, you should only use 30% of your available credit to have a good score. It must also be paid on time each month.

The free credit report will also give any charged off accounts, bankruptcies, or public records. A charged off account is one that has gone 6 months without an appropriate payment. Charged off means that it no longer shows as an asset for that particular company. It is usually then when the creditor will pursue you to try to get their money back. There are many opportunities to work with the creditor before they take legal steps. If you cannot pay on your credit accounts, you should always contact the creditor to work out an arrangement.

If you make settlements on your accounts that will show on your credit file also. You can work out arrangements to have it not appear on your credit, but ultimately it is up to the creditor to decide that. Settlements are when your creditor will take a percentage of what is due as payment in full. Once it is paid, most accounts show a zero balance with the term ?settled?. This is not the same as paying the account of as agreed and will not increase your credit score just by settling it. Slowly it will increase your credit score just by not having a balance still riding on that creditors account. Obtain a free credit report to find out how a settled account is notated on your credit file.

Your free credit report will also show if you have had to be sued to pay back money. These are called public records. The report will show in addition all good credit behind any bad credit. Reviewing your credit file will inform you of what potential creditors see when they pull your file. Reviewing the report will help you determine what shape your credit is in. If there are any corrections to be made, you should do so before you apply for credit. The correction process is easy. The credit bureau reporting agency has a process to follow. Once they investigate your claim, they will notify you of their findings. Once the corrections are made, they will send out a new credit report for your records.

A free credit report can also be your best defense against credit problems. Monitoring your credit can allow you to see problems early on. If there are accounts that you are not aware of, you can contact those companies right away. Reviewing your report will help you get a good idea of what is needed to improve your credit.

If you have good accounts that are not listed on the credit bureau file, speak with them. You will want to ask how you can start getting your credit reported. A favorable account will increase your credit score. If it is not being reported, then you are doing yourself a disservice. Match your list of creditors against those that are listed in your free credit report and make adjustments accordingly.