3 Credit Bureau Report – Free Score

Joseph Alex Webb asked:




Credit history is a detailed description of your borrowing and lending transactions documented in the form of a report called credit report that includes – Credit card usage, payments made, defaults, disputes send to collection and all related items.

Browse through the internet and search for AnnualCreditReport.com. You can see the report from either one or all of the nationwide credit bureau – Experian, Equifax, TransUnion. Before the report is produced for you, it prompts for a user identity for verification, you would be required to enter your Social security number and other personal details for verification. Once the identity is confirmed, the report is generated for you. Go through the report and analyze it for any questionable or unverifiable account. A negative score can occur due to one of the following reasons.

• A late payment on credit card.
• Single or excessive usage of the credit limit.
• Default payments notified to collection department
• Debt settlement
• Bankruptcy

Maintaining a good score is not rocket science, it is not tough and complicated, but some basic rules, which should be followed religiously, without failure. A stitch in time saves nine, so if you meticulously follow the simple strategies, there is rare possibility to depress the credit score. On top of this, if at all there is a bad score, you always have a scope to improve it.

1. While most of it can be due to one of our bad practice or bad situation, it is possible due to a bogus account as well. Do not use credit card in a suspicious place, especially an unknown website. There are malicious programs and software designed to steal the credit card details. If your credit card account has been duplicated by a rogue user; you risk the chances of having several unverifiable items on your report.

2. Prevention is better than cure; avoid any carelessness on credit card payments or maximizing credit limit. Ensure your disputes with any source like internet provider, cable provider or other utility provider, are either settled or cancelled but does not reach the collection agency.

3. If your credit report still contains inaccurate negative items, send a mail to the credit bureau with supporting documents and claim a correction in the report.

Gertrude

David Kamau asked:




Your credit history is a record you’ve established with the 3 major credit bureaus by either paying or not paying your bills on time, or not paying at all. This history is recorded by all of your creditors on your three credit reports.

The 3 major credit bureaus are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. They keep this information on file for you, your creditors, new lenders and other interested parties.

Parties that may require your credit history that are not lenders or creditors per se are employers and, more recently (and frightening), doctors and hospitals.

Your credit reports will reflect your payment history on all of your credit accounts you’ve had for the past.

This includes your student loans, mortgages, retail store credit cards, auto loans, telephone, and utilities (cable, gas and electric); although typically utility companies do not report until you fall into delinquency.

Federal law requires that child support delinquencies get reported.

This information can be reported for up to 7 years, or 10 years for bankruptcies. However, there is no time limit if applying for a loan of more than $150,000 or a job with an annual income of more than $75,000.

But aside from your credit history, the 3 major credit bureaus also store personal information about you, such as past and present addresses, social security number, and employment history.

The 3 major credit bureaus are for-profit businesses. They make money by selling your information.

You may be asking; how do the Credit Bureaus know if I pay my bills on time or not?

Well, the credit bureaus do not know if and how you pay your creditors. It’s your creditors that supply your information to them: it is your creditors that report your payment history to the credit bureaus; good or bad, they run and tell.

Have you wondered how debt collectors are able to find you when you move? One of the ways that debt collectors are able to track you down to your new address is through the credit bureaus.

When you apply for new credit, your information including your address is entered into your credit file. This process is called “lender reporting” where your creditors will send, typically, all three credit reporting bureaus the current status of your accounts utilizing an electronic tape.

Since lenders do pay to make reports they often do not report to all 3 major credit bureaus. This is one reason why your credit report will often differ from bureau to bureau.

Once the credit reporting agencies receive this tape, it’s loaded into their system and then unloads into their databases, hence, creating an updated record of all your accounts, address, and payment history.

In the perfect world, all your accounts should be paid on time; however, many of us fall behind. Doesn’t matter whether you were hospitalized or near-dead, all your timely payments, late payments, or missed payments are reported.

Accounts in good standing are noted as “paid as agreed.” This means that the creditor is reporting your account as being paid according to the terms of agreement you signed.

If your account is past due then your status rating changes and causes your credit ratings drop.

All the 3 major credit bureaus also indicate on your report the name of the creditor, type of account, account number and delinquency status (whether 60, 90 or 120 days late).

The worst notation on your credit bureau report is one that shows that an account is “in collection”. But even more devastating are judgments against you, bankruptcies and tax liens.

Christian

Cavyl Stewart asked:




“Pfishing”, sometimes spelled “Phishing”, is a word that’s used to describe a
method of identity theft where con men use fake e-mail that looks like it comes
from legitimate sources. This e-mail is designed to hoodwink you into giving
out personal and financial information. Once the scammers receive your
information they use it to either clone your identity or to empty out your bank
accounts and run up your charge cards. Here are some tips on how to avoid
becoming the next victim.

1. Never respond to an e-mail that looks like it came from your bank or any of
your credit card issuers no matter how official it appears. Phishing scam
e-mails will tell you that there is some problem with your account and that you
have to click on an embedded link to correct that problem. They may threaten to
close your account, or report you to the credit bureau, if you do not respond.
DON’T DO IT. Don’t call the telephone number that appears in the email either.
Get out one of your old bank or credit card statements and call the number that
appears there. Explain what the email says and follow the directions that you
receive from the actual employee. Chances are they’ll tell you its a scam.

2. Never give your bank account information, credit card numbers, Social
Security number, passwords, personal identification numbers (PIN), or Date of
Birth to anyone who asks you for that information by email. No legitimate
company will expect you to reveal sensitive information via email. Also, no
company that issues you a PIN will ever ask you to reveal that PIN to any of
their employees.

3. Never respond to any offer to buy anything by clicking on the link in the
e-mail. Even if the e-mail looks like it comes from your favorite department
store it might be a scam. To avoid being hooked by Pfishing, type in the URL to
the department store by yourself. Go to Google.com to look it up if you don’t
already know it.

4. Forward copies of any Pfishing email to the actual company or bank that is
being imitated by the scammers. You can usually send any email to postmaster@
and then the bank or company name.

5. If a Pfishing e-mail seems particularly threatening or worrisome to you,
report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ifccfbi.gov), a
partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.

6. If it’s too late and you already provided any of your personal information,
account numbers, or PINs then you should immediately contact your banks and
credit card companies to make arrangements with them to protect your financial
interests. These companies and institutions are familiar with these scams and
they know what needs to be done.

7. If you receive evidence of identity theft, such as unauthorized charges on
your credit card bills, or unexplained transactions in your bank account,
contact the police and file a report. Be sure to get a copy of the report for
your own records and to send to the companies that are involved in the
transactions. You also need to contact all three major credit bureaus (Equifax
at 800-525-6285, Experian at 888-397-3742 and TransUnion at 800-680-7289) and
tell them that you need a fraud alert placed on your credit file.

8. You can get information on ID theft and Pfishing at the Federal Trade
Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov or calling toll-free 877-382-4357.

Pauline