Ordering and Using a Free Credit Report

Free credit reports! Media advertising is promoting free credit reports for all kinds of reasons, never mind the financial ruin lamented by singers in goofy costumes or driving beater cars. The importance of having good credit cannot be overestimated; as lenders impose increasingly strict criteria for granting credit, it's important to know what's in your credit report.

Getting Your Free Credit Report

You are legally entitled to one free annual credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. You can order your free annual credit reports online, but it's important to note that this service does not include your credit scores. You can purchase credit scoring information for a small fee. When reviewing your credit, it's a good idea to pull credit reports from all three agencies and also purchase the accompanying credit scores. This will help you find all information being reported, as not all creditors report to all three credit reporting agencies.

You can also get free credit reports and sometimes credit scores by subscribing to a credit monitoring service for a fee. Credit monitoring services can be particularly useful in certain circumstances:

You have a lot of active credit lines, and/or multiple authorized users: Tracking your use of credit can be difficult if you use a number of accounts and have multiple authorized users. Examples include business owners, or parents who add children to their accounts as authorized users.

You're a victim of identity theft or suspect unauthorized use of your accounts: An annual credit report isn't enough if you're the victim of theft or fraud. Once your identity is stolen, it's important to check frequently for unauthorized opening of new accounts. Immediately notify creditors of lost credit cards and suspicious or unauthorized activity on your accounts.

You're avoiding trouble and fixing credit problems: If you find inaccurate information or unauthorized credit activity on your credit report, it's important to correct the information and/or report fraudulent charges. You'll want to keep making at least minimum payments on your accounts while you work with your creditors to remove or correct fraudulent charges and/or errors from your credit reports.

Whether you order free annual credit reports or subscribe to a credit monitoring service that offers free credit reports, it's great to know that your credit is OK.

Source:
Annual Credit Report website

About the Author:
Karen Lawson started writing stories about birds and surfing at an early age. For more than ten years, she enjoyed a productive corporate career in mortgage banking before moving to Reno, Nevada in 1997. Karen earned BA and MA degrees in English (specializing in writing) at the University of Nevada. Significant areas of research and writing include truth and ethics in creative nonfiction, medical humanities, and the symbolism and lore of birds in American literature and culture. Karen has taught English at a community college, is writing a collection of poetry, and enjoys birdwatching and walking her basset hounds.