When should you check your Credit Report?

We all know to get a check up with the doctor once a year, and dental twice a year, but how often should you check your credit report health? Just like getting a physical at the doctor to get steps to improve your physical health, you need to do a financial check up to improve your overall credit report health. With the way matters are these days you cannot afford to not stay on top of your financial health. If you want to retire someday you definitely don’t want to be paying higher interest rates on money borrowed because you are not up to date on your credit report history or because you have mismanaged your credit health.

There is lots of advice on the internet to check your credit report once a year, but is this the correct information? This might be a good rule of thumb for someone who does not have any credit out there, or never makes any purchases. Unfortunately most people are doing all the above quite often. Here are triggers for checking your credit report with credit scores.

You have been denied for a credit card, loan, mortgage, or other credit based services.
If your credit was used in the decision process for a loan and you were denied, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report. Most lenders will send you a letter in the mail listing some of the reason as to why you were denied credit.

Once you get a copy of your credit report and credit scores, review it and make sure you were not denied because of inaccurate information being reported.





You suspect your identity has been stolen
Unfortunately, identity theft is becoming a problem of epidemic proportions. Identity theft can go unnoticed for months, even years. If you discover your identity has been stolen report it to the credit bureaus immediately.

Your are preparing to make a major purchase like a home, car, credit card, or any other credit-based service
Your credit report history and credit scores are the primary factors in the loan approval process. You would be surprised as to what credit report entries would get you denied for a loan. In some cases even a $16.00 medical collection can keep you from getting your dream home.

You are planning to repair your credit or get out of debt or both
Since a credit report contains most if not all of your financial accounts, it’s the best place to start when you are focused on getting financially healthy. You can also easily use the information on your credit report to get your plan started. If you are looking to get out of debt or fix your bad credit report, there is no better place to start than your free credit score report.

About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness