Credit Repair Part 4

Credit reports and credit scores influence our lives in many ways. Your history of credit management affects the cost of loans, your ability to rent or buy a home, the insurance rates you are offered, and even your future employment opportunities. Credit reports are also available on line.

Freezes allow you to lock up your records and select a secret code that only you know and can use to temporarily thaw your credit. So criminals won't be able to get credit in your name because they don't have your code. Free credit reports requested by phone or mail will be processed within 15 days of receiving your request.

Consumers can order their free annual credit reports by mail, by telephone, or online. To maximize your protection against fraudulent activity, order one report from a different company every fourth month. Consumers can also play an active role by obtaining free copies of their credit reports annually and checking them for accuracy. The existing FCRA standards that apply to furnishers regarding the accuracy of credit report information and the investigation of disputes provide meaningful protections for consumers.

Information concerning lawsuits or judgments against you can be retained in your file for seven years or until the statute of limitations expires, whichever is longer. Under Washington's law relating to judgments, a judgment can remain on your report for a ten-year period after it is entered. Information about your business accounts may appear on your personal credit report if you are a sole proprietor or if you use your Social Security number to apply for business credit cards, loans, and other trade lines. When your personal and business credit intermingles, you risk being denied for loans and other services because you can appear to be overextended.

Inquiries made in connection with pre-approved credit offers or those you make yourself do not result in a reduced score. Inquiries that do have an effect on the creditworthiness of a consumer (also known as "hard inquiries") are made by lenders when consumers are seeking credit or a loan, in connection with permissible purpose. Lenders, when granted a permissible purpose, as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, can "pull" a consumer file for the purposes of extending credit to a consumer.

Since you have three different credit reports, you also have three different FICO scores. In fact, your bank might order all three scores. Since credit bureaus don't automatically check to make sure the information is right, checking for accuracy is up to you. Since there are more than 10,000 courthouses in America, a nationwide courthouse check of the applicant's criminal background record is not practical.

Monitoring your credit also helps you detect any identify theft attempts. Monitoring your credit is one of the easiest and most effective ways of protecting your credit against errors and fraud.

Creditors may also simply delete disputed information to avoid the cost and trouble of verifying its accuracy. Creditors determine whether to give you credit or a loan—and how much you will pay—based on information in your credit history. The national credit bureaus (now called consumer reporting companies) collect information from your creditors about how many credit cards and loans you have and how many accounts are late, overdue, or in collection.

Companies called consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) or credit bureaus compile and sell your credit report to businesses. Because businesses use this information to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, and other purposes allowed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), it's important that the information in your report is complete and accurate. Companies report every time you apply or are approved for credit.

Experian also runs a family of free credit report sites, starting with FreeCreditReport.com and FreeCreditReports.com. Those sites include a prominent mention of AnnualCreditReport.com. Experian, for example, offers to sell consumers a peek at their credit score, and a service to prevent identity theft.

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Gurmit loves travelling; he has been over 70 countries. He speaks fluent Cantonese, Polish, Hindi, Punjabi and English. Gurmit is an author, writer, insurance and mortgage expert. He frequently writes on various topics of interest to his readers. Gurmit Singh is a licensed mortgage expert with Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Villa.

Gurmit Singh, mba
Mortgage Expert
M08009905
Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Villa (11574)
Email:gurmit@gurmitsingh.ca
Website: http://www.gurmitsingh.ca