Have You Seen Your Credit Report?

When you apply for a credit card, the card company submits an inquiry to a credit bureau to obtain a copy of your credit report. The credit report contains your credit history, which will be used to help it make a credit decision.

Your credit report reveals your credit score. The card company uses this information, along with other lending criteria, to make a decision. Contrary to common belief, lenders do not base their credit decision only on your credit score.

Additional myths about your credit report include:

Your credit report is a single report. The three major credit bureaus are Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. These are also called national data banks or consumer-reporting agencies. Information on the major three credit bureaus is shown below.

Your credit reports are accurate. Errors, omissions and discrepancies often exist between your credit reports from each of the three bureaus. The longer your credit history, the greater the chance of these occurring. As a result, it pays to review all three credit reports every year or so. If you find incorrect information, contact the creditor directly to have it fixed.

Credit inquiries don't "ding" a credit report. Each time you apply for credit, the creditor obtains your credit report. Not doing so would constitute the creditor's failure to perform due diligence. These inquiries show up on your credit report. Although lenders may forgive a lot of inquiries that tend to occur when you buy a car or home, excessive inquiries from credit card companies is frowned upon.

Major credit bureaus:

Equifax	Experian	Trans Union
(800) 685-1111	(888) 397-3742	(800) 888-4213
www.equifax.com	www.experian.com	www.transunion.com

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) protects you if you've been denied credit. The law requires a lender that denies credit to a consumer based on a credit report to:

Notify the consumer of the decision to deny credit.

Explain the item in the credit report that led to the decision.

Identify the credit bureau or bureaus that furnished the credit report.

Authorize the consumer to obtain and dispute a free credit report from that bureau.

You have 60 days to request the credit report. The credit bureau is required to notify you of your claim and correct any errors within 30 days. The law was amended in 1997 to add further protections from potential abuses of credit bureau information.

The above information is educational and should not be interpreted as financial advice. For advice that is specific to your circumstances, you should consult a financial or tax adviser.

Must Read?

86 %

14 %

7 VOTES

Recent Comments

Post Your Own

1 - 4 of 4

4 comments

Rayden003 07:53:58 AM Apr 25 2008

Report This!

Beware of all the ads for a FREE credit report. I haven't seen one yet that did not have strings attached. For instance, if you request such a "free" report, it automatically enrolls you for a credit monitoring service, payable by the month. Generally, one can cancel within the first 30 days, but that is a hassle and easy to forget. I do recall that there used to be a truly free credit report available once per year, but I cannot recall where that was from, or whar their URL was.

GGLiddyGirl2005 08:04:32 PM Feb 21 2008

Report This!

These credit report agencies need to go. You have to PAY for your own credit report and it's strongly advised that you get a report from all 3 and between them you can figure out what's going on?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

Boncarbo7 01:33:10 PM Feb 21 2008

Report This!

THESE PEOPLE THAT TAKE CARE OF CREDIT REPORTING ARE INCOMPENTENT, THEY HOLD THE CREDIT WORTHY HOSTAGE WHEN THEY ENTER THE WRONG INFORMATION UNDER YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER THEN MAKE YOU PROVE IT'S WRONG. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT THEIR POWER, OR HIRE COMPENTENT EMPLOYEES TO ENTER THE DATA AND A SUPERVISOR TO RE-CHECK WHAT THEY HAVE ENTERED.

Stoneskyphotos 10:13:57 AM Feb 02 2008

Report This!

TOO MUCH TIME IS WASTED WAITING FOR ERRORS TO BE REMOVED OR UPDATED. IF YOU ARE IN A DESPERATE FINANCIAL SITUATION IT ONLY GETS WORSE DUE TO THIS TIME DELAY. CREDIT SHOULD BE THE LAST SIX MONTHS TO ONE YEAR. FURTHER, IT IS UNFAIR CREDIT CARD COMPANIES SELL THE ACCOUNT TO OTHER COMPANIES WHICH SELL THE ACCOUNT AND WHEN ONE COMPANY IS PAID THE OTHERS ARE NOT NOTIFIED OR UPDATED ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT WHICH THEN LOWERS YOUR CREDIT SCORE.

1 - 4 of 4

4 comments