|
| |
10 Tips To Prevent Credit Card Fraud
Imagine opening your credit card statement one morning and discovering to your horror that you suddenly owe thousands of dollars - on purchases that you never made. Impossible? Credit card fraud on the rise, so you need to treat your card and its ...
Car Loans After Bankruptcy - How Poor Credit Or A Recent Bankruptcy Can Affect Your Loan Approval
If you have poor credit or a recent bankruptcy, you can still get approved for an auto loan through sub prime lenders. Sub prime lenders specialize in financing auto loans to people with adverse credit. And a car loan can help you rebuild your credit ...
Learning Accounting: Debit and Credit Basics
When learning accounting for the first time, the terms ‘debit’ and ‘credit’ can be a bit confusing. Why? Because when you go to the bank and deposit money, the teller will tell you, “I am crediting your account X amount of dollars,” but if you are taking ...
|
|
|
|
| |
Your credit score is used by anyone loaning you money such as credit card companies, home loan lenders, auto loan lenders and finance companies. They all use your credit score to determine your credit risk. The interest the lender charges you is based on your credit risk. So you can see how understanding credit report scores is information that can save or cost you money.
You need to find out what your credit score is before you talk to any lender in case there is something on your report that you may question. You don't want the lender to find a mistake that you aren't aware of. If you find a mistake, it takes at least 30-60 days before you see corrections in your credit reports and scores.
You have probably heard that checking your credit will bring down your score. But checking your own credit report and score is counted as a "soft inquiry" and doesn't harm your credit score at all. Only "hard inquiries" from a lender or creditor, made when you apply for credit, will bring your credit score down a few points.
Your credit report should have the three main credit services Experian, Trans Union and Equifax and each service will give you a different credit score.
The credit scores will range between 300 and 870 with each credit service giving a different score. The higher your score is the better, because as your credit score increases, your credit risk decreases.
The average high approval score where the best interest rates are offered is 680 or above. The credit score the lender uses comes from the middle score or an average of all three scores is sometimes used.
Don't be surprised if you find an error once you get your credit report. Statistics show that 70 percent of credit reports contain serious errors. Those errors are what you want to clear up because they will affect your credit score.
If you find a mistake, you have the right to dispute the information free of charge. Contact the credit bureau that provided the information and dispute the inaccurate information.
Below are the names, addresses, phone numbers and web sites of the three credit bureaus TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
Equifax Credit
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
Equifax 800-685-1111
http://www.equifax.com
TransUnion
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
Trans Union 800-888-4213
http://www.transunion.com
Experian
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
Experian 800-682-7654
http://www.experian.com
You can also contact the creditor direct and ask that the corrected information be provided to the credit bureaus.
If you suspect any fraud, contact all three credit bureaus immediately and place a fraud alert on your report. Then, contact your credit card companies and bank to protect your accounts.
Understanding credit report scores and checking your credit report at least once a year will keep fraud in check and keep your credit score safer.
Copyright © 2005 Credit Repair Facts.com All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
This article is supplied by http://www.credit-repair-facts.com where you will find credit information, debt elimination programs and informative facts that give you the knowledge to correct your own credit and credit report. For more credit related articles go to: http://www.credit-repair-facts.com/articles_1.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|