Check Credit Report

On our website you will find information about free credit reports and a list of the best sites for credit reporting and credit scores.

Credit reports reflect how we handle our finances, and plays an important role in financial planning. Included in the report is a history of your financial activities, making it possible to track your debts, repayments, and defaults, including any legal actions.

Our credit score (or FICO) is based on credit reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Our score is important since it will influence our ability to get loans, mortgages, lines of credit, credit cards, and even employment and insurance.

You can obtain your credit report (sometimes your credit score is included) for free once every twelve months from each of the three major credit bureaus. If you need it more often, you will have to pay a fee. There are many services online that providecredit reports that typically combine all three of the bureaus.

To get a report, your first step is to go online and search for Free Credit Report to get a listing of companies that provide the report at no cost. Many offer credit monitoring services for identity theft, and as part of the service they provide free reporting and credit scores without limit to the number of reports per year.

Your second step is to review the services and products offered and select one that best meets your needs. With identity theft on the rise, it would be advisable to consider this service. Generally included is insurance to offset the cost for covering expenses to clear any fraudulent transactions, including attorney fees. Shop around and review as many offers as practical to get an idea of what’s available and costs.

Credit Score
We have all come to learn that it’s important to maintain a good credit score to lower the cost of financing. We’ll cover briefly how to improve your score if it is affecting your ability to obtain financing.

Your credit score can be improved over time by doing the following…

• Improve your money management habits: don’t get overloaded with debt; reduce the number of credit cards you are using by consolidating the debt of each card into one or two cards;
• Increase your savings
• Keep current on your payments
• Gradually pay down your debt

Understand that any bad entries to your credit history will take time before they are removed (10 years for bankruptcies; 7 years for foreclosures). However, if there are errors in your credit report, you should get these resolved immediately since the impact on your score will be immediate.

Your credit score will range from 300 to 850; the higher the score the better. Most banks will not accept scores under 500 for mortgages, and many require scores greater than 600.

It is advisable that you check your credit score before applying for a loan, and especially check the report for erroneous entries. Also consider reviewing your credit report whenever you plan to look for employment, especially in the financial sector.

Staying on top of your credit history by periodically reviewing your credit report, and monitoring your credit score, could save you thousands in financing expenses.