Feb
28
The Importance of Repairing Your Credit Report - Yourself!
February 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
It seems to be common knowledge today that we are living in a society overwhelmed with debt. Credit card balances are hitting all time highs and in return, people are running into more and more problems with their credit ratings. These circumstances have led to decreased credit scores which lead to increased fees for credit cards, auto insurance, and can even affect you getting a job!
A recent study has shown that nearly 70% of credit reports carry some type of error on them. 70%! Statistics like this is one factor which has resulted in the government allowing Americans the ability to receive a free credit report every year. Americans need to become more aware of what is reported on their credit reports to help decrease these errors.
One business that has begun to flood the web is “credit repair Companies”. There are several different websites, many of them claiming to be law firms, which will charge you numerous fees to clean your credit report for you. Typical tactics used by these credit repair companies are bombarding collection agencies with letters, asking them to remove your negative items. What consumers need to know is that these tactics, which give the credit repair company’s the nickname “Dispute mills”, are not effective in removing negative items! Typically it does nothing more then raise red flags at the collection agency’s and can even make it nearly impossible in the future for you to try to re-dispute an item on your own. Collection Agency’s will see these as what it is, a mass mailing to get negative items removed, and take it as ungrounded reasons to have items removed.
Their tactics and fees are on thing to consider but one previously unmentioned thought may be even more important, identity theft! Identity theft is one of the highest crimes in the country today. When you hire a credit repair company on the internet you may know nothing more about the company then its website address. There first step will be to charge you all kinds of fees, secondly they will want a copy of your credit report so that they can fix your negative items or errors. Now if this is a legitimate law firm or credit repair company, there may be nothing to fear, but what if their not? You just gave someone access to all your personal information including not only your credit card numbers, loan numbers, but your social security number, address and everything that legally makes you…YOU!
For those few reasons you need to understand that you do not need to hire anyone to fix your credit report. You can accomplish the same thins even the best credit repair company can accomplish, by doing it yourself! The people at creditrepairplan.com help you to learn how you can fix your credit effectively, legally and simply. They provide you with a simple step-by-step calendar to follow, sample letters to send to collection companies or creditors, and maybe even more importantly, empower the consumer by informing them of their legal rights when it comes to credit repair.
We shouldn’t become overwhelmed by the process or frustrated by the creditors games. Become informed, learn your rights and regain your credit freedom!
Kimberly Kellish has been involved in the financial market for years. She has taken her years of knoweldge and community involvement and begun a campaign to empower the consumer by educating them about financial issues so they will be able to make more informed decisions about the financial future!
Popularity: 4%
Feb
25
The Importance of Knowing What’s on Your Credit Report
February 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment
It is no coincidence the recent push by the government and businesses to help you gain access to your credit report. The government has made it law that you are able to view your credit report once a year, free of charge to help consumers repair their credit reports. A recent study has shown that nearly 70% of credit reports carry some type of error on them. This number has led companies to try to persuade the public to take advantage of their free credit report to clear up errors, prevent identity theft and allow them to help improve their overall credit image. Consumers need to take advantage of this and realize, as overwhelming as it may seem, that you need to repair or fix errors on their credit report, avoiding it will in the end be more costly.
One of today’s highest rising crimes is identity theft. Identity theft criminal can take all your personal information use it to gain credit under your name and ruin your financial future for years without you even knowing it. Consumers to need to become aware of their rights to help prevent this from happening to them. Even in taking advantage of your free credit report it may not be enough. You need to learn how you can repair errors if you do find them so they don’t cost you in the future. Take into consideration all the different types of companies that now look at your credit report when considering you, auto or life insurance companies, mortgage companies, rental applications, bank accounts, credit card applications, and even employment hiring practices in many fields now look at your credit score and use that as a portrayal of you as a person. Pretty scary if you don’t even know what is on it.
When you apply for any type of credit card and for some reason are not approved, you are entitled to a copy of the credit report that the company pulled and looked at in consideration of your application. Here is another often missed chance at a free glimpse at your credit report.
If you are unfortunate enough to find errors or negative items on your report you need to become educated on how to effectively and simply get the items removed or at least reported in a more positive manner on your report. This process may initially seem overwhelming and just plain too much work, but if you take advantage of others experience in this area you can fix your credit report yourself not only saving you money in the future, but earning a sense of pride that you did it yourself. Consumers need to beware of some tactics out their. Credit repair companies are popping up all over the internet claiming they can fix your credit report in 30 days, or they charge you huge initial fees, monthly fees and more to do it for you.
As tempting as it might be to let someone else fix your credit for you you’ll need to be cautious. Remember you may know nothing more about the credit repair company then their web address, and you will be divulging all your personal information, account numbers, social security number and pretty much everything that legally makes you, YOU! Pretty scary for a company you know nothing about? The federal government agrees, the best, safest way to fix your credit is to do it yourself. There are many sources out there that will provide you with information on how to accomplish this. Creditrepairplan.com will give you a step by step plan on how to fix your credit yourself and take away the frustration of trying to organize everything and keep you on track to an ensure you have an accurate credit report. Don’t let your financial future be determined by others, be aware of what is on your credit report, and don’t be scared to fix what is not accurate. Don’t pay out higher fees or interest rates, fix your credit today.
Kimberly has been involved in the financial industry for over a decade. Her knowledgea and expertise in the area has allowed her to launch a campaign to help empower and educate consumers in many financial topics so that they can regain control of their finances and make better informed financial decisions in the future.
Popularity: 5%
Feb
22
Check Your Credit Report Regularly
February 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Identity Theft & Your Credit Report
—————————-
Identity theft is a type of fraud in which financial
information is illegally obtained for the purpose of making
unauthorized purchases and transactions with credit cards or
funds from financial accounts. A thief can use your personal
information such as your name, drivers license, Social
Security number, health insurance, or bank account number,
to make purchases as if they were you. If this happens, it
could be the beginning of a financial disaster that could
linger for years and cause you to lose job opportunities, be
turned down for credit or loans, and in some cases, ruin
your reputation.
There are a lot of thing you can do to minimize the risk of
becoming a victim of identity theft. This article focuses on
obtaining and reviewing your credit report, quite similar to
what we do when we perform network security assessments,
believe it or not.
What Is A Credit Report
————————–
There are three major credit bureaus that collect, maintain,
an distribute credit information about you. These companies
are Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Some of the
information you will find in your credit report is; personal
information such as your legal name, alias names, addresses,
current and previous employers, and date of birth; your
credit summary such as current and past credit status, total
number of open and closed accounts, the balances of
accounts, if they are current or delinquent; public record
information such as federal bankruptcy records, local
government court records, liens, judgments, and child
support records (information that can stay in your record
for up to 10 years); credit inquires - when you apply for a
credit card or loan, the institution will make an inquiry to
one or more of the credit bureaus; detailed account history
- very up to date information about your loan payments,
credit card debt and payment history, and this information
stays on your report indefinitely; credit score - a number
ranging from 330 to 830, the higher the number the better
your credit is and increases the chance of you obtaining a
loan or credit account.
Why Should You Check Your Credit Report Frequently
————————————————–
If someone gets your Social Security number, it only takes a
few additional pieces of information, which is quite easily
obtained, to assume your identity. The Internet makes it
even easier than ever because most of this information the
criminal needs to get his hands on is out there. It is not
my purpose to scare anyone, but I must tell you that if you
think you are not at risk, you need to think again.
The most common forms of identity theft include; credit card
fraud, bank fraud, communications services, and fraudulent
loans. The bad thing is that this type of fraud can
negatively impact your life, the good thing is there are
ways of monitoring what other people do with your identity.
Do you know, that nearly all of the security assessments we
perform, we find personal and financial information on work
computers. What ever you do, do not store this kind
information at your workplace. This is a sure fire way of
becoming a victim of identity theft. If I had more room in
this article I could tell you stories about identity theft
and fraud that would make your hair stand on end. And,
everyone of us are potential victims.
Things You Can Do To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
—————————-
I’ve written other articles about identity theft, and I am
sure I will write more. The bottom line is this is one of
the worst things that can happen to you financially, and the
risk of it happening is quite high. Some of the things you
can do to minimize this risk besides regularly checking and
monitoring your credit report is:
Shred all of those pre-approved credit cards you get in the
mail. This includes any document or item you receive that
contains your Social Security number, date of birth, or any
other personal identity information.
Never print your Social Security number, phone number, date
of birth, or credit card information on your checks. If a
merchant ask you for this information so they can write it
on your check, do not give it to them. Even if they tell you
you cannot make the purchase without it, go somewhere else.
Secure your mail and email. Did you know that a common
tactic for thieves is to divert your mail by filing a change
of address at the post office. Of course, there is the
typical method of just reaching into your mailbox and taking
checks, utility bills, and so on. Because people use email
as a substitute for snail-mail (normal paper mail), you
should be careful what you email to people as well.
Monitor your credit by obtaining a credit report from one of
the three, if not all three, credit bureaus. They may be
able to provide you with a consolidated report from all
three companies. And, most of them have inexpensive monthly
services that monitor your report for you and send you
alerts when things change or inquiries are made on your
account.
Conclusion
———-
As a consumer, you need to take this issue of fraud and
identity theft very seriously. Not only should this be
important to you, but if you have a family, you should see
it as an obligation to protect their future. As with any
type of security issue, there is nothing 100% secure.
However, you can take steps to minimize your risk and
exposure. Remember, it is typically the easy target
criminals focus their attention and efforts on.
Obtain your credit report and review it thoroughly, you
might be surprised by what you find. If you happen to see
something that is not right, take immediate steps to clear
it up.
You may reprint or publish this article free of charge as
long as the bylines are included.
Original URL (The Web version of the article)
http://www.defendingthenet.com/newsletters/CheckYourCreditReportRegularly.htm
About The Author
——————
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with
over sixteen years experience. He has written many
technology & security articles, some of which have been
published in nationally circulated magazines & periodicals.
If you would like to contact Darren you can e-mail him at
Darren.Miller@ParaLogic.Net. If you would like to know
more about computer security please
visit us at http://www.defendingthenet.com
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