3 Credit Bureau Report – Free Score

Justin Smith asked:




Raising your credit score can be a fairly simple and straightforward process unless you have derogatory marks that need to be disputed (which will be explained below).

The reasons for bad credit can be as follows, high balances, bankruptcies, late payments, and many others. The most significant thing you can do to raise your score is to change your financial habits. Chances are that if you have a bad credit score, you did something to make it that way. Here are some of the best ways to quickly raise your credit score:

1. The most obvious: pay off your debt! This doesn’t include a home mortgage, but revolving balances such as credit card debt, a car loan, etc.

2. Make every payment on time. This is the most important factor in your credit score rating. If you have had late payments in the past, it will take some time to see real results from your on-time payments, but keep it up, sooner or later the credit bureau will notice the change in your payment habits. Develop the mentality that no late payment is acceptable!

3. If possible, pay over your minimum amount. This is especially important with credit card balances, and will reflect a slight boost in your score.

4. If you have paid off all your debt, and your credit score seems to be at a stand still, you might want to make small purchases each month with your credit card and pay them off immediately. Often times the credit bureaus like to see at least some kind of activity. Otherwise, they have no way to gauge how you are doing financially.

5. Be patient! Sometimes repairing credit can be a long and arduous process. Especially if you have had a bankruptcy. It can often take the better part of a year or more to see any significant raises in your score.

Clearing a derogatory mark on your credit report:

This is probably the most difficult in regards to credit repair. If you have requested a copy of your credit report, and notice a problem (an example would be a late payment mark), that shouldn’t be there, you need to take action to get the derogatory mark cleared as soon as possible. It is extremely important to get your credit score cleared before you attempt to get prequalified for mortgage.

Here are the steps you should take:

First of all, if you are in contact with a loan officer, you may want to describe the problem you are having to them. They can be very helpful when it comes to credit repair, and should know exactly what to do if you have a bad mark on your credit that is a mistake. In some cases, they may even call the creditor for you to address the situation.

Second, you should call your creditor and each credit bureau to find out which course of action you should take. In most cases, writing a letter will do. Here is an example letter:

Date 00/00/00

Dear Big Credit Bureau,

This letter is a complaint that you are reporting inaccurate and/or incomplete credit information on my credit report.
I am displeased that you have included the below information in my credit profile that includes the following errors. Credit reporting laws ensure that bureaus report 100% accurate credit information.

The following information concerning my credit report needs to be re-investigated. I respectfully request to be provided proof of this alleged item on my credit report. If this cannot be provided, the item must be deleted from my report as soon as possible:

CREDITOR AGENCY, acct. 123-34567-ABC

The listed item is inaccurate and/or incomplete, and is a serious error in reporting. Please delete this information, and supply a corrected credit profile to all creditors who have received a copy within the last 6 months, or the last 2 years for employment purposes. Also, please provide the name, address, and telephone number of each credit grantor or other subscriber.

Under federal law, you have 30 days to complete your re- investigation. Be advised that the description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information is hereby requested as well, to be provided within 15 days of the completion of your re-investigation.

Sincerely,

your signature

Your Name

SSN# 123-45-6789

Unfortunately, you will need to write 3 separate letters to each of the 3 major credit bureaus. Here are the contact addresses for each:

Trans Union

P.O. Box 1000

Chester, PA 19022

1-800-888-4213

Equifax

P.O. Box 740241

Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

1-800-997-2493

Experian

P.O. Box 2104

Allen, TX 75013-2104

1-888-397-3742

Susan

Tony Banks asked:




It is expected that you write the credit bureau when you discover negative information that doesn’t belong to you on your report. But what do you do when your bureau insists that the information is yours?

Credit bureaus have a maximum of 30 days to investigate a negative report when requested by a client. If you have issues with the result of your request e.g Bureaus Insist that a negative information/account is yours, all you need to do is write a letter to your original information furnisher requesting them to investigate the negative information in your credit report.

You are to inform your information furnisher that you have previously written a similar letter to the credit bureau and the account is claimed to be yours hence your request of a another investigation.

It would be in your favor to remind your furnisher that your request is legal under the Fair and Credit Reporting Act. Also request that if the account reported negative is found incorrect, the information should be passed to the credit bureau with a requesting that it be deleted from your report.

It is your right to take legal actions if a correction is not made, therefore you can inform the furnisher of this within your letter.

The truth is that not many people know about this method. But a single letter to your information furnisher can be the solution to repairing your credit report. Also inform them that you want to see the prove that was used to verify the account to the credit bureaus.

Ashley

Micheal Perkins asked:




1. Get your credit information

Getting copies of your credit reports is the first step you have to take in repairing your credit. This seems pretty simplistic and obvious, but you have to do this to see what is actually on the reports, not what you think is on the reports. Most people want to focus on what is reported that affects their score. You need to ensure that all your former addresses are correct, your name is spelled properly as well as any other personal information that may be on there.

2. Make a list of discrepancies

Once you have your reports, start making a list of all negative marks on your report, make a separate list for each of the three reports. After completing your list, you must decide what items you wish to dispute. You can do this yourself, or pay someone to do it for you. You will pay an attorney or credit counselor several hundred to do this. You can do this yourself, but you must have letters that are proven to work. Simply asking for the items to be removed is not enough.

3. Write letters to each credit bureau

This is pretty easy, but also where most people make their mistakes or get frustrated and stop trying. There are two ways you can do this. First, each bureau has a website that you can use to submit letters challenging their entries. Second, you can write a letter by hand or on your computer and send it to them by mail. Decide which one seems easier to you and do that. The biggest thing to keep in mind, your letters must sound professional and be written in a way that is non threatening, but forces the credit bureau’s to investigate your challenges.

4. Send proof of your challenge

If you have any documentation that supports your challenge, send it with your letter of dispute. Even if you do not have any documentation, send a challenge anyway. The law works in your favor here. If the credit bureau can not prove your dispute is accurate within 30 days, they must remove the item your dispute. The law is very clear on this point. So keep track of how mush time has passed since you sent your letter.

5. Stay determined

The credit bureaus do not always follow the law to the letter. They will try and tell you things like they are reporting what the creditor tells them, so it’s not up to them to remove disputed items that can not be proven. Don’t listen to them! As I stated above, the law is very clear on this. Send a follow-up letter giving them the name of the law that requires them to remove the item they were unable to verify. Also let them know that failure to do so will result in you filing a lawsuit and using their letter stating their failure to verify and then remove the item as evidence against them in court. When you purchase my book I also provide you with samples of this letter also. As a side note, their failure to comply with this law means they have to pay you $1,000 for each occurrence.

6. Stay on track

When you have several disputes going at the same time it can be tricky to stay on track. It’s easy to decide to address something in a couple of days rather than as soon as you get it. You have to stay organized and follow-up as soon as you get a letter back. Time is ticking so take care of everything the day you get it. Keep each dispute in a separate file so it is easy to find exactly what you need, when you need it.

That’s it, that’s all there is to it. The thing to keep in mind is that if you have the time you can do this yourself. When you pay a credit counselor or an attorney to do this for you, they are doing exactly what I just shared with you. There is no need to pay an attorney several hundred dollars to have his secretary mail out the letters I give you, when you can do the same thing yourself.

Glen

Aaron Fecht asked:




Credit has become one of the most important things in our day to day life. Our credit report is in a way like a financial report card. All the finance companies we deal with on a daily basis such as the credit card companies, banks, lenders and store credit cards all report to the credit bureau on a monthly basis.

Here are a few of the things that will help better your credit. Be on time with your payments. Never miss a payment- even if you only pay the minimum amount that is ok. The important thing is to pay it. Try to pay credit cards in full as often as possible. Keep your accounts open, even if you are no longer using that particular credit card. Longevity is an important factor when it comes to good credit.

The longer an account is open, the better your score will be. Having said that, it is all these factors put together that play a role in having a good credit score. Information on your credit report can stay on there for up to ten years.

Unfortunately, not all of us have the best credit. There are two major credit bureau companies that operate in Canada, Equifax and Trans Union They score your credit according to their formulas to develop what is known as a Beacon Score

Beacon Scores usually range from 400 to 850; 400 being lowest score and 850 being the highest score. These credit ratings or Beacon Scores estimate the ability and willingness of a person to repay a debt or loan.

Repairing credit will take time and patience on your part. Having no credit is almost as bad as having bad credit. Most lenders do not approve people that have no credit history. This is because they do not want to take the risk. The good news is that you do not have bad credit. You just have to develop your credit.

Bad credit takes more time and effort to repair. The first step in repairing your credit is to get a credit report on yourself Once you obtain your credit report make sure the information on the report is in fact correct, such as your personal information, your payment history and the list of all your creditors.

Roger