It’s important to check credit history results on a regular basis.
If you live in America today and have any kind of financial dealings based on credit, the one thing with that can greatly impact your financial life is your credit history.
"Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them,
but none are fun when you set about retiring them."
- Ogden Nash, American Writer |
An average credit score is based mainly on the credit report information from three major credit bureaus. Banks, credit card companies, and all other lenders use this credit score to evaluate potential risk before lending anyone any money.
They use these scores to decide who should qualify for a loan, what interest rates they should pay, or what credit limit they should have.
As a consumer, you need to check credit history results periodically, especially before you think of applying for a loan or a new mortgage. By law, you are entitled to one free copy of your credit history report, from each agency, once in every twelve months. You are entitled to a copy, especially if you have been denied credit supposedly because of something that is in your credit history.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, all the credit reporting agencies as well as creditors are duty bound to correct any information that is inaccurate.
A few simple steps can be followed in order to correct any inaccuracies. Failing which, you can sue the company for damages, statutory penalties, and attorney’s fees and costs.
First, see that the information is contained in your credit history at the three major credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. You want to check credit history information in order to verify if there has been any unlawful use of credit, as well as any inaccurate reporting.
Your credit rating is legally accessible for limited purposes only. Marketing companies are able to pull credit information based on certain criteria, in order to target consumers for mass mailings.
Check for who has accessed your information. If you spot an invasion of your privacy, contact the proper authorities. Sometimes one credit file can become merged with another, giving you an unfair, adverse credit history. The agency is legally required to clear this up immediately, but you will need to notify them using their established process.
To check credit history reports, send written requests by certified mail to the credit reporting agencies. Creditors, debt collectors, are required to report your account as disputed if you notify them. If they ignore this they can be held liable. Re-ageing and submitting an obsolete date, which most do, is illegal. You have the right to dispute the information that is erroneous or outdated by filing a dispute application with the credit bureau.
The credit bureau has to contact the original creditor within five days of receipt of your application. Within 30 days the bureau must notify you of the results along with an updated copy of your credit history.
If the credit bureau cannot verify information, or if the item is found to be inaccurate, the notation must be deleted from your credit history. If it is verified, get the contact information of the creditor.
To register a dispute, send a letter to the credit bureau, with specific mention of your dispute, by certified, return receipt requested mail.
When you get the receipt, mark 30 days from the date your letter was signed for. If the bureau does not verify within 30 days, send a letter demanding removal of the item from your history.
You do have the right to sue a creditor or the bureau that violates your rights under the FCRA, but filing a lawsuit can be expensive and time consuming, so it should be your last resort, only after all other attempts fail.
Most people use a lot of credit, and as a result, their credit score is very important to them. These people should check credit history information regularly. However, if you don’t use credit, which is what we advise, then remain determined to live debt free. You are already way ahead of the vast majority of American’s.
"Money and success don't change people;
they merely amplify what is already there."
- Will Smith, Actor |
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Debt is NOT your friend. It's not a wonderful "tool" for building wealth. That's a myth.
