There are generally two reasons consumers need to contact credit reporting agencies. Credit reporting agencies can be contacted to obtain a free credit report or the credit reporting agencies may be contacted to handle a credit report dispute. To contact a credit reporting agency in order to obtain a free copy of your credit report, the best method is to use the website set up to make these requests for all three of the major credit reporting agencies. The three major consumer credit … [Read more...]
Credit Report Dispute
October 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
To help fix your credit score or credit report, the process that often has the quickest and biggest impact is the credit report dispute. To dispute the information in your credit report you must send a dispute letter to each of the major credit reporting agencies. A dispute letter is a consumer’s means to challenge the accuracy or validity of information in their credit report. The value of the credit report dispute letter comes from the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA … [Read more...]
Credit Score Quick Facts
October 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Here are some quick facts about credit scores that consumers should keep in mind when reviewing their credit score, credit report or putting together a plan to help improve their credit scores. You need to have and use credit to have a credit score. Credit reporting agencies gather and report a consumer's credit history that includes debt repayments to credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and other creditor accounts. Credit reporting agencies also record information on judgments, liens, … [Read more...]
Find Out Your Credit Score
October 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
To find your credit score should be an easy task, unfortunately it’s not. Unlike credit reports, there is no universal resource that entitles consumers to a free copy of their credit score. Consumers are entitled to one free credit report within a 12 month period from each of the three credit bureaus but are not entitled to receive a free credit score. The FACT Act which is a revision made to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, allows consumers to get one free credit report from each of the … [Read more...]
Remove Inquiries from Credit Report Sample Letter
September 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
When trying to improve a credit score, removing inquiries from the credit report can help. Inquiries, as a rule, have very little impact on a credit score but they can shape the score if there are a number of credit report inquiries in a short period time recorded in the credit report especially when the individual credit report has a limited credit profile or credit history. Before a consumer pursues the process of trying to remove the inquiries from a credit report they should be … [Read more...]
Remove Inquiries from Credit Report
September 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Since the Fair Credit Reporting Act allows only authorized inquiries to appear in a consumer credit report, consumer can remove inquiries from a credit report. To remove inquires from a credit report a consumer should first be fully aware of the credit inquiry and credit score process. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, businesses with a permissible purpose may review the information in your credit report. Every time you apply for credit whether it is a mortgage or credit card, … [Read more...]
Credit Check Agencies
September 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Credit check agencies are companies that collect and sell information about the credit history of an individual. The report that the credit reporting agencies produce regarding consumer credit histories are called a credit reports. A credit check agency is a term that covers a number of different types of credit reporting agencies. Credit check agencies are also known as consumer reporting agencies and credit bureaus. The credit check agencies or credit reporting agencies take in a … [Read more...]
FTC Targets More Credit Repair Operations
September 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Since a good credit score and credit history has become so important for consumers to obtain credit and housing and insurance and other products and services, companies that target consumers who have poor credit histories with promises to clean up their credit report have run amuck. The FTC is one government agency responsible for curtailing fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices regarding credit repair organizations. The FTC announced in the first week of September that … [Read more...]
Fair Credit Reporting Act
February 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a United States federal law that provides consumer protections and regulates the collection, distribution, accuracy and privacy regarding the use of consumer credit reports. The law was originally passed in 1970 and has been amended since. Companies that gather and sell information about consumers regarding where they work and reside, how they pay their bills, and whether they have public records filed make up the credit reporting industry. The FCRA … [Read more...]
Different Credit Scores
January 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
When an individual obtains a credit reports from one of the credit reporting agencies or from all three, they will see that there is quite a bit of information to digest. With more than one credit report, most of the information will be the same but there will also be some information that is different. The differences in some data from one credit reporting agency to another helps to explain why credit scores would be different from different credit reporting agencies. Unfortunately, … [Read more...]