Free Three Credit Bureau Report – 3 Scores

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.

Leroy

rmporcelli asked:

Its commonplace today for lenders to require borrowers to address recent inquiries on their credit bureau reports. Recent credit bureau inquiries may indicate acquisition of new debt. Since there is a two to three month lag-time between the acquisition of new debt incurred and its presence on a credit bureau report, lenders are requiring written statements from borrowers affirming that no additional debt has been acquired since the credit bureau report was pulled. Lenders feel that this is a necessary step in order limit default risk due to undisclosed debt service payments. This is an example of a Letter of Explanation regarding Credit Bureau Inquries. We have provided you with the dates and companies of your latest credit bureau inquiries. Please provide us with a letter specific to your inquiries and please let us know if youve incurred any new debt as a result of these inquiries. I can be reached at 561-703-3454 or porcellimortgage@gmail.com

Margaret

David Maillie asked:




Many people have and suffer from bad or marginal credit. This does not mean they are a bad person as bad credit can happen as a result of a sudden unplanned illness or emergency, a job layoff, etc… Many families do not have sufficient savings to ride out a serious and costly emergency or job loss. Actually, according to MSN, many families are living only one paycheck away from bankruptcy and this is not good. To stop this one needs to put reigns on all unnecessary spending, but we will talk more about this further on.

The first step anyone with possibly bad credit needs to take is to find out the exact extent of your credit. You may have only seen 1 credit report or only been told what might be on your record by a bank or loan manager or finance manager, but did you know there are really 3 separate credit reporting agencies and each has a different report and score? Just because one credit report shows as bad doesn’t necessarily mean the others do, and vice versa, if one is good the other two may be quite the opposite. Usually, as a rule, they are similar, but negative items or entries do tend to stay longer on some then others and some tend to have more errors in their entry reporting.

Go online to any of the three major credit bureaus (Just Google the names of Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) and pay to have your all three in one report with credit score pulled. You want all three as they can and probably will be slightly different. The report is necessary so you can actually measure and understand exactly how bad it is and what needs to be done to improve and fix it. A all three in one report is around $40 to $50 and worth it. Free reports which you can receive per recent federal laws will only give one credit bureau and no score (how do you know where you stand without a score unless you are a finance manager or work at a bank loan department?)

If your score is 600 and above your credit is marginal, but not bad. You won’t have too much to repair. If your credit is 500 or below you probably have a lot of negative entries, possible tax liens, judgments, repos (car repossessions), a possible bankruptcy, and/or other serious negative influences and entries in your reports. A low or bad credit score will take more work and effort, but you can still achieve a much higher credit rating and fairly quickly.

Now, that you have your credit report and scores, find out which is the most important credit reporting bureau for your area of the country (each bureau has a particular area of influence). The easiest way to do this is to contact your local new car dealer and ask the finance manager what credit report they most commonly use to establish credit. Usually it is only one and that is the one that will be most influential in your area and the first one you should repair.

Joanne

Chris L asked:


I know my credit score, but recently went car shopping and the finance manager pulled up my report that showed my scores were 80 points below what the 3 credit bureaus list it as on my report – She went on to explain that the scores vary based on what type of loan you are applying for – I have never heard of this and can’t find any supporting data – Does anyone know?

Greg

Paul H asked:


We recently had a credit score run for us and they gave us the scores of 695, 697 and 707.

Does anyone know the order of the 3 major credit bureaus on such a report and if that is the standard order they come in?

In another words would say for example it be:

Transunion, Experian, Equifax?

Kathleen

redhairedmama75 asked:


As I mentioned in my previous question I am helping a co worker with her credit. One of the collection agencies refuses to send her proof that the debt is hers but one of the 3 bureaus is considering it verified. The only thing she has gotten from the collection agency is a bill saying that $177.?? is owed and yet one her credit report it is only $23.00 reported as owing. She intends to pay but would rather pay 23 than 177 dollars. What happens if she pays the smaller amount?

Joanne

Chris Rutherford asked:




Your credit score has a big impact on everyday financial situations such as: What interest rate you pay on a credit card, whether you can rent an apartment, whether you have to pay a deposit with your utility company, whether you can qualify for a home loan, and maybe even a potential employer’s decision to hire you. Going through life with bad credit can be very challenging.

Getting a Copy of Your Credit Report

You can’t fix bad credit without knowing what’s in your credit report first. You need to get a copy of your credit report from all 3 credit bureaus: Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax. You can request a copy of your own credit report for free once a year.

Reviewing Your Credit Report

It may not be fun, but reviewing your credit report line by line at least once a year is very important to identify any errors or issues that you may not be aware of. Pay special attention to “derogatory” (or negative) items such as late payments, collections, and charge-offs – they lower your credit score, sometimes significantly.

First, make sure your name, birth date, and current address are showing correctly on the report (in the “Personal Information” section). If not, make a note to correct them with the credit bureau(s). Make sure you check every account listed on your credit report:

Verify the account status is correct – you may discover old accounts you thought were closed that still show up as “open”. If you have accounts left open that you’re not aware of, they may be hurting your ability to apply for new credit or raise the credit limit on accounts you are using. Look at each account in detail (account number, credit limit, date opened etc.) and make sure it is really YOUR account. Someone else could have a similar name and their account might be mixed up with yours. Or worse, someone may be stealing your identity to open accounts in your name, leaving you with the unpaid bills. If you recently refinanced and/or paid off a mortgage or credit card account, check to make sure the account status (“paid, closed”) and current balance ($0) are reflected in the credit report. Note that there will be some delay (30-60 days) in updating your report.

Too many inquiries (requests for your credit history made by other people) can hurt your credit score. Review the “Inquiries” section in your credit report and make sure you know who asked for your credit file and why. You should either already have an account with the inquiring entity, or have authorized their credit check in some way (e.g. by applying for a new bank / credit card account or loan).

Understanding Your Rights

Remember, you have the legal right to know what’s in your credit file, and you have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. By law, the credit reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, outdated, incomplete, or unverifiable information from your credit history, usually within 30 days.

Therefore, reviewing your credit report at least annually is critical to maintain the accuracy of your credit information. You can raise your credit score by disputing any errors or outdated negative information (more than 7 years old, or bankruptcies more than 10 years old).

Ana

Conleth Onu asked:




Disputing negative entries on your credit report is the most effective method to delete unfavorable information and improve your credit rating.

Many people in America have negative information on their credit report. These derogatory items can be detrimental to your ability to obtain loans, credit cards and other financial services.

You have the right to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete information that is contained in your credit report. There is no charge for this.

If an account is not being reported 100% accurately, by law the credit bureau must remove it from your report.

Here’s How The Process Works.

1. You get a copy of your credit report from the credit bureaus.

2. When you get your reports you carefully review them and note any negative accounts and inaccuracies.

3. You then dispute the negative accounts. Submit the dispute in writing, along with any supporting documentation. If the credit bureau cannot verify the accuracy of any item you dispute, they must remove the item within the alloted time.

4. When the investigation is complete, the credit bureau must send you a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change.

You can continue this process until you are satisfied with the outcome. Remember, if the negative item is not 100% accurate the credit bureau must remove it from your file.

Before you begin the process, it is essential that you have good information on how to go about restoring your credit.

Do you want to learn more about how to do it? I have written the ultimate guide to credit repair, “How To Clean Up Bad Credit And Establish AAA-1 credit Rating.” For free details, click the link below to visit my website.

Leroy