What Do Credit Reports Mean To You?
Credit reports are often regarded with dread, especially by those who have entered turbulent financial waters. But reality is never your enemy, even when it is unpleasant. In order to promote financial health, and resolve any debt problems you may have, it’s essential to have the best information possible about your credit status. That information is found – both by the lender and, more importantly, by you – in your credit reports.
Those reports are maintained – at least in the U.S. – chiefly by the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax (PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374; www.equifax.com), Experian (PO Box 2002, Allen TX 75013, www.experian.com) and TransUnion (PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022; www.transunion.com).
These reports show your personal information such as your social security number, current and previous addresses and phone numbers. It also gives a history of any debt you have had over a number of years. If you have made any late payments it records these and states how late the payments were in 30 day increments.
That information is readily available to any qualified party – a bank, a mortgage lender, a credit card issuing company and certain others during legal proceedings. But, though the companies all genuinely try to maintain accurate records, the reports may contain errors.
They may list loans as active that have been paid off. They may list current credit cards you canceled long ago. And, they may fail to list payments made to make up overdue amounts. Often, this isn’t sloppiness on the part of the credit bureaus but simply a reflection of timing and other common human errors in keeping records. The world may be computerized, but those databases still don’t always communicate effectively between companies using different systems.
To be sure that your credit report has accurate information you must regularly review copies of the reports produced by the three reporting agencies. If you notice an error in your report send a letter to the agency explaining the error and include proof that it is in fact an error and ask the agency to make a correction in their database.
Everyone can receive one free copy of their credit report each year. You can request your credit report on line or by phone. If requesting your credit report via the internet you can visit annualcreditreport.com
Knowing your current credit status can help you game plan for your financial future. A knowledge of your credit history can be instrumental in helping you set goals to eliminate your debt and avoid unnecessary debt in the future.
When you receive your credit report review it carefully for any past due balances. Resolve these quickly paying off the smaller balances first and then move along to the larger balances until all past due balances have been cleared. In time you will be on your way to a cleaner credit report.
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