Who Do You Contact To Get Your Credit Report?
Getting Your Credit Report
A credit report contains information about all of your credit accounts, loan payment histories, bankruptcy, collections, outstanding debts, and many more. This report is important each time you go for credit such as credit cards, car loans, or mortgages, and sometimes even employment or renting an apartment. That is why people should review their credit reports occasionally to make sure that the information on the reports is correct.
Currently, there are three significant national consumer credit reporting agencies, also referred to as credit bureaus. To get your full credit picture, you'll need to check your credit reports from all three bureaus:
Equifax Experian TransUnion
Although most of the information that these agencies gather from banks, lenders, collection agencies, and records of the court involves the same thing, the three credit reports may not be the same in some ways. Having access to all three reports is a way to get a full picture of all credit activity that has been reported on you and it gives you a chance to challenge any mistake found in any of the reports.
3 Free Credit Reports Every Year
If you once a year ask each of the three credit agencies to provide a free copy of your credit report in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). By yearly collecting your free reports, you may review the credit records and fix mistakes before they become much more serious.
Although you can apply for the free reports straight with each credit agency separately, AnnualCreditReportcom is the most practical approach. Where you may obtain copies of your records straight online, this is the primary website linking consumers straight to the three credit bureaus hosting Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion brands.
When requesting your Annual Credit Report from AnnualCreditReport.com, you will need to supply you:
• Full name • Date of birth • Social Security number • Address
Finally, for the security measures, you will be required to complete some identity verification questions which are likely to be generated from credit reports. Given that you can prove your identity, there are no restrictions on the ability to access and print the requested reports right away.
Alternatively, you can fill out the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:
Self-generated by the author as part of the yearly free credit report service. P. O. Box 105281 Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
If you provide a request form, you should be expecting the credit reports to be delivered to you via post in not more than fifteen days.
However, it is important to remember that the free annual credit reports do not contain the actual numbers which are on your credit report. However, when you go through the details provided in the full credit reports, you are in a position to analyze for any mistake or fraudulent actions that might be lowering your scores.
Getting Your Credit Scores
While once every 12 months the whole credit reports are sent without charge, your credit scores are often accessible for a fee. Credit scores obtained from credit reports are not unique; rather, there are multiple ratings in use right now. Usually, lenders use your FICO scores to guide choices in credit transactions such as credit card or loan application acceptance.
Although there are many FICO scores, the most often used ones fall between 300 and 850.
• Poor = 300 to 579 • A general overview of the results and the interpretation of the scale is the following: 580 to 669 = Fair • 670-739 = Good • 740 to 799 = Very good • 790 to 840 = Excellent 840 to 880 = Very Good 800 to 850 = Good
Purchasing your FICO Scores from myFICO.com is the only official method to get them. Therefore, depending on one's demands, one may choose the myFICO credit score package with either a single, double, or triple score inclusive of other information on credit reports. Pricing runs from 19.95 USD to 59.85 USD.
FICO Scores can also be ordered from Experian. Com and Transunion. Com, the prices usually vary from $15 to $25 for one or all three scores. Equifax does not provide FICO Scores to consumers; they only provide credit reports, credit monitoring, and associated services.
If you will obtain your scores from myFICO or any of the bureaus, you will obtain your current score which is from your recent credit history. This lets you monitor your credit status as it is and how it progresses over time. Importantly, the checking of credit scores by the selected users does not affect the actual credit scores.
However, for the most part, many credit cards and personal loans that you apply for shall display your credit score for free on your billing statements or your online account statements. These lenders will have an opportunity to monitor your scores since they report to the credit bureaus your payment record. These scores are mainly FICO 8 Scores or another type based on one of your credit reports. Using the available scores from varying lenders, one can be able to compare and see their credit standing with the three credit bureaus.
Whether you want to pay for the service at myFICO or the credit bureaus or want to try the free method of tracking your scores through lenders, ensure that you pull your full credit reports to spot things that are negatively affecting your scores. Fixing mistakes before they become a long-term issue is possible, thereby preventing credit damage from reoccurring.
Challenging Credit Reports Errors
Mistakes can enter your credit reports when creditors, collection agencies, and/or credit bureaus make mistakes and confuse information between your credit profile and that of other individuals. Just like entering the wrong digit of your Social Security number or any number that is just one digit different can start putting mistakes on your credit history.
If you ever find anything strange, wrong, or fake on your credit reports you are in a position to start a dispute. The FCRA and the FCBA explain your consumer rights in coming forward to fight credit report mistakes and compel the bureaus to work fast to sort out the errors that you report to them.
This means that if you wish to challenge an error, you must write to the concerned credit bureau where you identified the error as well as the credit information provider who furnished the erroneous information to the bureau. You can easily file the forms through each bureau’s online portal or via an application downloaded to your smartphone. Or you can dial the toll-free numbers and communicate with such agents on how to go about reporting the disputes.
In case of a friendly approach, all reports should be as detailed as the general one, including such details as inaccuracies in provided information and its explanation, and copies of relevant documents. This substantiation is necessary to ensure the credit bureaus consider your dispute serious and conduct a proper investigation.
Credit reporting agencies then have up to 30 to 45 days to investigate errors in the credit reporting. Usually, they will contact the lender or the collection agency that provided the fake or misleading information to find out whether the information is verifiable.
If the bureau concludes that the disagreement is genuine and the information submitted cannot be confirmed, the bureau is required to delete the errors from your credit report immediately as well. On the flip side if the lender can confirm that the information being posted is accurate then the negative information will remain on your credit report. Upon completing the investigations, the credit bureaus would have to furnish you with written reports of their findings.
Getting errors removed can instantly increase your credit score because these falsely damaging scores do not add up to your credit record anymore. This is why it is advisable to not only go through your credit reports every year but also thoroughly analyze them. It is very important when you are trying to improve your credit scores to look out for and correct mistakes as soon as possible.
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