Do you check your credit report on a regular basis? If you don it, you may be leaving yourself vulnerable to paying higher interest rates as well as to becoming the victim of identity theft. The reality is that you should check your credit report on a regular basis. And, the good news is that you can do it for free every year! Obtaining Your Credit Report In the past, you could not obtain a credit report for free unless you were already turned down for a loan or if you met other specific criteria. Or, you had to become a member of a certain organization and you would receive a "free" credit report as a perk of your membership. Today, however, you don it have to join a group or be turned down for a loan in order to get your credit report for free. Instead, the government has made it possible for you to obtain your credit report for free once per year by simply visiting AnnualCreditReport.com or calling 1-877-322-8228. Checking Your Report Once you get a copy of your credit report, it is important for you to look it over thoroughly in order to look for mistakes or suspicious activity. If you find any mistakes, even those that seem small and unimportant, you need to take action to get the information corrected. The reality is that even a seemingly small mistake, such as having the wrong date listed for when the account was opened, can have an adverse affect on your credit rating. In addition, a mistake on your credit report may be a sign of identity theft. Therefore, you should report the mistake to the credit reporting bureau as soon as possible. Reporting a Mistake Reporting a mistake on your credit report is a relatively simple process. First, you will need to write a letter that details the mistake you have found and why the information is erroneous. You should then make copies of any documents that support your claim and then send the information to the credit reporting bureau. Be sure to request a receipt request so you can confirm when the documents arrived at the credit reporting bureau. After your letter arrives at the credit reporting bureau, the company has 30 days to address your concern. At the end of these 30 days, the company either needs to correct the error or send you a letter telling you why the information will remain the same. If the error is corrected, the company will send the information to the other two credit reporting bureaus so they can also correct your report. The company will also send a new copy of your report to you so you can see that the error has been corrected. If the company finds that the report should remain unchanged, on the other hand, you will have the option to write a brief statement to be included on your report. While this will not help change your credit rating, it can be beneficial when a potential lender pulls your credit report, as it will give the lender immediate feedback regarding the negative information contained on your report.
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Do you check your credit report on a regular basis? If you don it, you may be leaving yourself vulnerable to paying higher interest rates as well as to becoming the victim of identity theft. The reality is that you should check your credit report on a regular basis. And, the good news is that you can do it for free every year!
ReliaCredit provides you view of your annual credit report Credit reports with Identity Guard and also Annual Credit Report
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