Jun

28

Credit Tip! Repair you own credit report.

Your credit report contains important information about you. It generally includes facts about your identification data, your bill-paying habits, inquiries and public record information.

Credit bureaus compile and sell your credit information to businesses, which use it to evaluate your credit applications. Therefore, it is important that your credit report contain complete and accurate information.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the rights to dispute the completeness and accuracy of information in your credit files.

If you find information in your credit record that you believe is inaccurate, what you need to do is to complete the special investigation request form that comes with your credit report. Follow the form’s instructions to fill out all of necessary information.

You may also want to attach a letter to your completed form, dated and signed by you, and along with copies of any documentation you have that helps prove the error in your credit report.

The documentation might include copies of canceled checks, sales receipts, account statements, or previous correspondence between you and the creditor involved.

Attaching a letter to the investigation request form is always a good idea if you don’t think that the credit bureau’s investigation form gives you enough space to explain why you think there is error in your report.

Credit Tip! Many credit card companies will decide whether or not to issue you a credit card with a high limit based on your credit report. If in doubt they may not issue a card at all or issue a card with a very low limit or risk.

Keep a copy of your completed investigation request form, letter, and backup documentation. They provide you with the records of what you said and when you said it. Also, the date on letter will let you know when you should have heard back from the credit bureaus.

Once you have completed the investigation request form, mail it, along with your letter, and copies of any documentation. Send it by certified mail with a request for a return receipt. When you get the signed receipt back, file it with the rest of your credit record information.

When a credit bureau receives a dispute, it must investigate and record the current status of the disputed items within a “reasonable period of time,” — between 30 and 45 days, unless it believes the dispute is “frivolous or irrelevant.”

Credit Tip! You will see the addresses for each creditor on the credit report. If it is not there, then you can call customer service to ask them to provide you with the missing information.

If the credit bureau cannot verify a disputed item, it must delete it.

If your report contains erroneous information, the credit bureau must correct it.

If an item is incomplete, the credit bureau must complete it.

If a investigation does not resolve your dispute, the Fair Credit Reporting Act permits you to file a statement of up to 100 words to explain your side of the story.

The credit bureau must include this explanation in your credit report each time it sends it out. Credit bureau employees often are available to help you word your statement.

Be aware, however, that when negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage of time can assure its removal.

Credit Tip! The credit bureau must prove each credit record on your credit report. If this is not possible, it must be stricken from the credit report.

Credit bureaus are permitted by law to report bankruptcies for 10 years and other negative information for 7 years.

Also, any negative information may be reported indefinitely for use in the evaluation of your application for:

- $50,000 or more in credit;
- a life insurance policy with a face amount of $50,000 or more;
- consideration for a job paying $20,000 or more.

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Bruce Liu is the author of the ebook
“Insider’s Guide To Credit Repair”.

His bi-weekly newsletter “Credit Secrets & Tips” provides all new, latest tips and secrets for repairing credit and managing debts! Plus, subscribers receive a 5-day mini-course
“7 Key Secrets Guaranteed To Boost Your Credit Score” instantly.

For subscription visit http://www.insiderguidetocreditrepair.com/subscribe.html
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Popularity: 7%

Jun

25

Credit Tip! The credit report plays a significant role in the functioning of consumer credit markets. Since loans are advanced based on the credit reports the chances of loans going bad are minimal.

Every time that someone looks at your credit report, the inquiry is noted. If you have lots of inquiries on your report, it may appear that you are shopping for several loans at once - or that you have been rejected by lenders. Both make you appear a poor credit risk and may affect your credit score. This means that you should be careful about who looks at your credit report. If you are shopping for a loan, shop around within a short period of time, since inquiries made within a few days of each other will generally be lumped together and counted as one inquiry.

You can also cut down on the number of inquiries on your account by approaching lenders you have already researched and may be interest in doing business with - by researching first and approaching second you will likely have only a few lenders accessing your credit report at the same time, which can help save your credit score.

Credit Tip! Residents of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont are entitled by state law to one free credit report from a credit-reporting agency per year. Residents of Georgia are entitled to two free credit reports.

Be careful of online loan rate comparisons.

Online loan rate quotes are easy to get - type in some personal information and you can get a quote on your car loan, personal loan, student loan, or mortgage in seconds. This is free and convenient, leading many people to compare several companies at once in order to make sure that they get the best deal possible.

The problem is that since online quotes are a fairly recent phenomenon, credit bureaus count each such quote estimate as an “inquiry.” This means that if you compare too many companies online by asking for quotes, your credit score will fall due to too many “inquiries.”

Credit Tip! Get a copy of your credit report. Take advantage of the free government credit report from each of the National Consumer Credit Bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Equifax.

This does not mean that you shouldn’t seek online quotes for loans - not at all. In fact, online loan quotes are a great resource that can help you get the very best rates on your next loan. What this information does mean, however, is that you should research companies and narrow down possible lenders to just a few before making inquiries. This will help ensure that the number of inquires on your credit report is small - and your credit rating will stay in good shape.

Cornelius P Crumpacker

More than 100 tips to improve and repair your credit score
http://www.usacreditinfo.com

Popularity: 7%

Jun

22

Credit Tip! Even accurate data in your credit report must be deleted if it’s not verified.

Have you received your free annual credit report? If not, the first thing you want to do is get a copy of your credit report from each of the three major reporting agencies.

If your address and information can be verified against the report, you can do this on one site at AnnualCreditReport. If not, you may need to contact each agency. Go to Equifax, Experian.com, and www.transunion.com to find out how to order your free annual credit report.

Once you receive your reports, go over every item. Make notes about anything inaccurate or out of date. If there are addresses or information that does not belong to you, you must write to the reporting agency to have these removed from your records. Perhaps there is no record of a loan you paid off. You must inform the reporting agency of this information. They will verify it and add the paid loan to your report. These are important in obtaining future credit. If negative information is accurate, keep in mind that these entries may be reported for up to 7 years or for 10 years regarding bankruptcies.

Credit Tip! Tell the CRA what information you believe is inaccurate on your credit report. Include copies, never originals of documents that support your position.

Maybe there are unfavorable items on your reports that are inaccurate. If so, you must send the correct information and ask to have it corrected. Are there items on your report that were dismissed in bankruptcy or through a settlement? Again, it is your responsibility to be sure your report is correct. You may also help prevent identity theft by being sure that all the records listed are yours. If you do not contact the reporting agency, they are unlikely to notice and correct your records.

Your request must be made in writing. They cannot make changes in your credit report over the phone. When requesting corrections, you must provide copies of documents showing the correct information. Send your request with your documentation Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. Keep the receipt and wait for the signed card to be returned to you verifying they received your information. Most of the time, they are required to investigate within 30 days. If the investigation results in a change in your report, they will send you a new free report reflecting the changes.

Be a responsible consumer. Check your credit report every year to insure accurate records are available when you need them.

About this author

Jacob Mettarod was laid off from a factory job about 3 years ago. It was then he decided to help others in similar situations with their credit and employment issues. You will find more articles about credit reports at Fixed Credit Report

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