The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lets you request a free copy of your credit report from each bureau every twelve months at AnnualCreditReport.com. It's been mentioned numerous times before (along with all the scam sites looking to profit off it) but do you regularly check your credit history for errors?
I check my history every four months, rotating among the three bureaus, and one time I discovered the wackiest error of them all. I had an entire credit history, albeit a short one, linked to my own because the other person's social security number was off by one digit (I had a 6, he had a 0). I had an extra address, a extra monthly landline phone bill, and a credit card I didn't recognize (he had good credit though, paid off his credit card every month).
To get the data removed, I had to prove I didn't live at that address during the period listed (I submitted two bank statements listing my actual address plus my cell phone bill for that period!) but it was eventually moved. When I asked the CSR how the heck they linked us, they said that "sometimes it happens." That was the explanation.
It's no wonder consumers find an estimated 13 million inaccuracies on their credit reports each year.
Jim writes the blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
]]>They didn't try to cash the check. :( I really wanted the image of that one.
]]>Hmmm. Link doesn't work if you're outside the US. What to do if you need to check your US credit but are abroad?
]]>Oh and its up to the credit grantor whether or not they care to check your credit report before granting you credit. So if they don't bother to check any of the details of the credit application, but someone has your ssn, then they might just grant the credit, which will show up on your report. The creditors don't care, as they just write off the loss. I once put a fraud alert on my file at all three, the next week walked into a store, applied for a credit card and was granted on the spot. Then again, maybe thats why that company is no longer in business.
]]>And 5 points is a generalization, by no means a hard and fast rule.
]]>That is to say I have a very good credit score and take my credit seriously. I think you should be honest to yourself and potential lender so as not to get in over your head, but I shouldn't have to worry about a credit hit or error ruining my financial status or being charged extra in interest rates.
]]>Um no, checking your own credit (via sites like myFICO) does not affect your score at all. You can check it as many times as you want. Also, annualcreditreport.com does not provide you with a FICO score, it only provides a credit report. There are a few sites that give you a free FAKO score like creditkarma.com, but a true FICO score will cost you a few bucks to obtain. Even then, your score will not change. It only temporarily goes down when a potential creditor does a hard inquiry on your report.
]]>Its just assinine.
Let me check my credit score as many times a year as I want, please. Plain and simple.
]]>@12-Inch Idongivafuck Sandwich:
Another credit building item is to be put on as an "authorized user" with someone's good account that is about to be paid off in the next 2-3 months. This is how some credit rebuilding places help raise very bad credit scores. The industry wanted to eliminate this loophole but the government left it open- for now...
]]>You can get far more free copies when other entities use credit reports that generate "adverse" information.
Example: alot of car/vehicle insurance companies use credit reports for a portion of their ratings. If they use information that results in "adverse" findings they are required to let you get a report from the credit report company they used. If you apply for any type of loan and do not get the "best" rate you can get a copy of the credit report on which the loan offerer based their information on.
]]>Mine's all messed up with my address history. Its got some guy with the same name as me who lives in California.
]]>Also, don't dispute by phone. Send in a letter by certified mail outlining all the details of the dispute, and be sure to name drop: names like FCRA and FTC.
]]>My husband and I tried to get a Target card back in 2004. Even though at the time my hubby had perfect credit, they denied us and we wrote the three bureaus to see what was up. They had him listed as DEAD. When my hubby was a teenager he was an authorized user on his dad's card, and his dad died in 1996. That card company declared them both dead.
]]>Hmmm, maybe I can start charging my bank, or any company for that matter, on the $0.00 funds I lend them.
]]>I hope you did not pay for that credit report. My understanding is that if you are denied credit then the credit reporting company must provide you a report free of charge.
]]>(A check at Equifax shows the correct number of revolving accounts attached to me)
]]>I would like unrestricted access to my credit report, and the FICO score. Maybe ad-supported?
]]>Send a dispute letter to the CRA in the mail, don't do it online!
]]>Hit me again, oh yeah, here's another $50 bucks, do it again!
]]>The dispute filing stuff you have to go through is a pretty decent hassle, but it got removed from my reports, thank God.
]]>I'm not a fan of frivolous law suits, but if a store or service provider accuses you of buying something when, in fact, someone had stolen your identity, why isn't the store/business culpable of accessory?
]]>@jrlcopy: You weren't 90 days past due on a BALANCE, silly. You were 90 days past due on making a CHARGE. They can't make money unless you spend THEIRS. How cruel of you not to understand their point of view. You should make more of an effort to keep yourself in debt, and paying these companies -- people like you brought about the bailout.
(just kidding!)
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