3 Free Credit Report per Year
A credit report checkup is not something that most people ever think about doing. However, this is a very important thing to put on your to do list. Just as a physical checkup is vital to our personal health, so is a credit checkup vital for our current credit standing. Credit reports are important to check because there can be so many errors that can occur to many people each year. One of the best ways to maintain your credit checkup is to get your 3 free credit reports per year.
The top three credit bureaus are;
- Experian
- Equifax
- Transunion
These are the big three in the credit reporting industry. They are necessary for all creditors to check and all three will give a customer a free report at least once per year. All an individual needs to do is to contact each one and request the free report. After you have obtained the free report, what do you do if there are inconsistencies showing up?
Clean it up
After you get your 3 free credit report per year from all three bureaus, it is time to really look them over with a fine tooth comb. There are millions of people who find that there are inaccurate reports listed on their credit report. Sometimes people do not find out that there are problems until they are applying for a loan for a new home or other purchase. This is not the time when you want to encounter trouble. If you are thinking about purchasing a home or other item that will result in your credit being checked, take some time prior to that purchase and make sure that your credit report is the best that it can be. Clean up all the items before you go to your lender.
How do you get these inaccurate items removed? You will need to request that the credit bureaus do an investigation on your behalf, by logging online and denying or appealing that the negative listing is yours. However, not just negatives can affect you. If your report lists that you have had a paid mortgage in good standing and you do not, the lender will wonder why you need to buy another home, and may think that your credit is not good enough. After you begin the appeal of the negative listing, it may take several weeks for the credit bureau to remove it from your report, although it can take much longer. Keep checking your report, even if you need to purchase a monthly plan to do so. It is better to have these things removed once and for all before you set out to obtain loans again.
Free reports
Free reports will help you discover what is going on with your credit and let you take the right steps toward fixing it. However, it is important not to hire any outside firm to fix your report yourself, unless you check them out thoroughly. If you do not, you are taking great risk at losing your money if you cannot make sure that the company is legitimate.
If a company tells you things that seem too good to be true, then they probably are not true. No one needs to hire a credit fixing company, as you can accomplish what you need to do on your own with some old fashioned homework and a determination to succeed and really turn your credit around. Many people get into tight spots during an illness, a divorce, or the collapse of a business and may suffer negative credit times, but those times can be put behind you.