How to get a free Credit Report
A credit report is one of the most critical documents required to do any major transaction in the United States of America. If you are buying a car with full cash or check payment, then the dealer may not require looking at your credit report. However, if you are buying it on a loan, the lending financial company is sure to have a look at it. So what information does the report carry, so that every financial organization, landlord, or in general anyone from whom you are taking money or any thing on loan wants to have a look at it? As the name suggests the report gives information valuable to judge your credit worthiness. The report has in it all the bank accounts you have, the number of credit cards you possess and your history of paying their bills and the revolving credit (if any), your rent and utility bills payment history and any such major information. Hence, anyone who has access to your credit report can get an idea as to how much you are earning and how you spend it. Thus they can make an informed decision whether to lend you or not.
How to get a free credit report
To access your credit report, you have to pay a small fee to the credit reporting agency. However, in order to create more awareness about the importance and use of Credit Report, the US Federal government started the program of giving free credit reports to the US citizens. It started with the 12 states on the west of the US mainland. Now if you are in California, you can get annually a free credit report from all of the 3 credit reporting agencies viz. TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. You can order for all the 3 at the same time or in staggered fashion spread out across the year or you can go for any other ordering pattern. The California Office of Privacy Protection offers a consumer information sheet on How to Order Your Free Credit Reports.
Check your report
Once you receive your credit report, whether free or paid and from any of the 3 credit reporting agencies, do check your report. Complaints of incorrect information in a credit report are often heard. If you find your account balances, credit card payment or utility bill payments history incorrect, don’t hesitate to immediately call the concerned credit report agency. Chances are that there is incorrect information in their repositories as regards to your earnings and spending.
Identity Theft
These days there is also another possibility, which is far more serious in nature; the Identity Theft. In Identity Theft, someone steals your personal information like Social Security Number, credit card number, driving license details, etc. and does financial transactions on your name. The California Office of the Attorney General offers tips for victims of ID theft. Such a fraud can hurt you both financially and in terms of credit score. If you have doubt about this, do contact the policy or Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If you want to secure against any further damage, Californians, along with people from 12 other states, can place a freeze on their credit report. The California Office of Privacy Protection offers a consumer information sheet on how to freeze your credit files. By putting a freeze, companies or individuals, barring a few, can’t access your credit report. If you have filed an official complaint with the police or the DMV, then this freeze will not cost you anything. You can place this freeze by contacting the 3 credit reporting agencies. If you wish to place a freeze on your credit report as a safeguard against any future fraud, you can do so by paying $10 to the 3 agencies. You can also lift the freeze once you feel you are secure. Some more great tips on what you are responsible and what to remember whebn it comes to identify theft and your credit report are listed on this page here.
Negative remarks on your credit report
If you have missed any of your payments or anytime filed for bankruptcy, you will have a negative remark on the report. Usually a negative remark, barring that for bankruptcy, remains 7 years on the report. The negative remark for bankruptcy remains an additional 3 more years. A negative remark reduces your credit score and chances are that your loan or credit card or similar application, may be rejected or you may have to pay a premium over the normal charges.
Improving your credit score
In California, one can find many companies who claim to have skill to repair your credit report and get you a higher credit score. However, most of these companies are outright fraud. And the few who are genuine cannot help much. Instead there are websites and non profit organizations that can help you analyze your credit report and improve it.
It’s always good to play safe with your credit report and put all the efforts in keeping it clean. A clean report not only creates good impression about you, but also helps immensely in living an easy life in the United States.