Your Credit Report and Your Credit Score
If you want to improve your credit score, you need to go
right to the source - your credit report. Your credit
report contains the information and data on which your credit
score is based. If you can alter or update the
information in your credit report, your credit score will
change to reflect the alterations. For this reason,
getting and checking your credit report is one of the first
things you should do when you attempt to repair your credit
score. There are a few tips that can help you deal with
your credit report so that you can give your credit score a
boost:
Tip #19: Dispute errors on your credit
report
Contact each of the three major
credit bureaus - TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian -
and get copies of your credit reports and credit
scores. Carefully read over the reports and note any
errors. In writing, contact the credit bureaus and ask
that mistakes be removed or investigated.
This is called a dispute letter
and once it is received, credit bureaus have to investigate
your dispute within thirty days of receiving your
letter. It is important to keep a copy of your letter
and it is important to note the date the letter was
sent. You should not be accusatory or abusive in your
letter - calmly and clearly state the problem and request an
investigation.
Note that you are aware the
agency is required to investigate the claim within thirty
days and note that you will follow up. Be sure that
you do follow up with the issues you raised in your letter -
just because the agency investigates does not always mean
that your credit report will end up error-free.
Many credit bureaus now make it
possible for you to correct errors on your credit report
online - and many have information on their web sites that
tells you exactly how disputes must be handled to be
effectively removed. It is important that you follow
this information exactly so that the inaccuracies on your
credit report are removed promptly and your credit score is
updated as soon as possible.
Tip #20: Add a note to your
credit report if there is a problem you can’t resolve
Sometimes, there are legitimate
reasons why you didn’t pay a bill. If a contractor
refused to finish a job or did a poor job, then you may have
refused payment, but the non-payment may still count against
you on your credit report. If there are any unusual
circumstances surrounding your credit report that may affect
your credit rating - such as a case of identity theft - you
can ask that a note be attached to your credit report to
explain the problem.
Some lenders will pay attention
to this and some will not, but it is a better solution than
nothing at all. Such a note will not affect your
credit score but will affect your credit report. More
importantly, it leaves a paper trail of the problem that
lenders can look at if they choose.
Tip #21: Make sure you know who is looking at
your credit report and why
Many inquiries
look bad on your credit report, but more than that you
likely want to know who can see your personal financial
information, now that you know that your personal
information is stored in a credit report. If you sign
a document with a lender or apply for credit online, you can
be sure that someone is looking at your credit
report.
However, you may
want to look over other documents in order to see who is
taking a peek. Insurance agents will often look at
your credit report, for example. Some landlords and
potential employers will, too. You need to be careful
about online sources, too. In general, when you
provide someone with your social insurance number, you may
be giving permission to look at your credit report.
You shouldn’t bar people from looking, but knowing who is
looking is good financial practice.
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