Free Credit Reports with No Credit Cards

Free Credit Reports with no credit cards required was an article I wrote about a while back. I have got some feedback in regards to this article. Here are the facts about free credit reports.
There is only one type of credit report that does not require a credit card and is free once a year. The credit report can be obtained at annualcreditreport.com. All the other offers that say “FREE credit report” are only free trials. That means you get it free for so many days. The reason there is a charge at a later time is because is comes with really useful services such as credit monitoring and credit scores. Annualcreditreport does not give you your credit scores, nor do they give you credit report monitoring. So with this being said if you want a credit report with credit scores 14.95 – 29.95 is not that much money to get a piece of mind. When creditors pull your credit report they don’t go to annualcreditreport.com to see what’s in your report, especially since most creditors look at your credit scores to make a decision.






What type of credit report do you really need?
While you are surfing the web out there trying to figure it out, let us give you some suggestions. I will tell you this; credit reports with no credit scores are useless. I repeat credit reports with no credit scores are useless. The reason why is all creditors look at your credit scores to determine your risk. If you are getting ready to make a purchase or just want to know what’s on your credit report, get a 3-1 credit report with your credit scores from each credit bureau. If you don’t cancel within the trial period you will get charged for it. It would not hurt to get credit monitoring set up, so when key changes take place to your credit report you will be notified via e-mail. During this day and age you cannot afford to wait a year to get a copy of your credit report at annualcreditreport.com. You also need to check your credit every 60 to 90 days. Anything can happen to your personal credit report within a 30 day period. This is why annualcreditreport does not provide what you really need for FREE. A recent study was just done about identity theft and identity theft happens every 4 seconds in this country to someone. So do you think waiting a year to see your credit report with no credit scores is ok? I think you get the picture now. Make the investment in credit reports with your credit scores and monitoring. It’s like having life insurance, you have that piece of mind now to protect you and your family.






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 , 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

Improve your credit score before it’s too late

Your credit score is everything these days. Maybe you are just one of those individuals that would rather not know what is on your credit report. Let’s assume you just got laid off, and now you have to find a job. Guess what employers are doing now, they are pulling your credit report to determine your risk. Typically people with good credit are not going to steal; they seem to have their life in order, etc……according to corporate companies. So if you have had some bumps and bruises on your credit report this is the time to get a recent copy of your free credit score report and start working on your credit. Here are some pointers on what is needed to increase your FICO score.

Secured Credit Cards
If you don’t have any credit and your current credit report is littered with collections and charge offs, you will need to establish new credit. Yes I know credit cards are evil, but they are a necessary evil these days. I would recommend getting some secured credit cards with Orchard Bank. They are a credit card bank with low fees, and typically require a $200.00 deposit into there account to secure the card. This process will get some good revolving credit reporting to all 3 credit bureaus on your behalf. Typically you need a couple of credit cards reporting. So go a head and get a few different secured credit cards. Since authorized user accounts don’t help anymore, secured credit cards are the quickest and most reliable way to get your credit
established or re-established.






Collections Accounts
There is a common misconception that collection accounts can be removed even though you owe them money. A collection account will not go away until the account is set to expire, which is 7 years from the collection date. That is a long time to wait for something to disappear on your credit report. The fastest way to get your scores up with collections is to pay off the newest collections first. I guarantee you once the account is updated from a balanced being owed to “paid in full” or settled, your scores will go up. Once you pay off the collections make sure you get letters from the collection companies stating what was done, either paid in full or settled on. After about 60 days re-pull a copy of your credit report with scores and make sure they updated with the credit bureaus.

Quick Credit Fixes
Folks there are no quick fixes to credit repair, Fair Isaac shows that in their FICO® score model that time is also part of the credit scoring recipe. Yes there are some tricks I know that will get your credit sores up, but time is also a factor as well. The main key is to make sure you don’t have late payments while you are doing this entire process, make sure nothing goes to collection. The banking industry will never be same again because of the amount of mortgage foreclosures. I guarantee you the lending industry is tightening so much currently that families with good credit could have problems getting loans. So make sure it’s not too late, if you are getting ready to make a big purchase like a new home for the family, make sure your credit is in line with today’s times. One thing I know for sure, and that is the lending institutions are going to get even tougher. So instead of getting told NO, get told YES.




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 , 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

Why it’s a “Good Time to Buy a Home.”

You cannot turn on the TV or listen to the radio without hearing about the housing market. The main reason the housing market is getting so much publicity is because the Sub-Prime loans affected Wall Street. Obviously if this happens it affects banks that are holding this particular paper in their portfolio. Despite all the bad publicity due to bad loans being underwritten over the years, it’s still a great time to buy a home. There are loans out there that will allow credit challenged families to buy a house with good terms and decent interest rates. This particular loan is FHA. We are currently in a FHA market nation wide. This loan has been around since the 1930’s and is the most aggressive loan in the banking industry. So if this loan will allow challenged credit to obtain financing with good terms, why would you not try to buy? Here are the advantages of the current housing market.

• Lots of homes to choose from.
• Value of homes falling, which means better deals.
• Interest rates are still low.
• FHA allows down payment assistance.
• Motivated sellers.
• Lots of short sales available.
• Lots of Builder reductions.
• Challenged Credit Loans available.






Quite contrary to popular belief you currently don’t need perfect credit to buy a home. If you know of a good FHA Broker, then get with that broker to see if you can get FHA financing. Banks typically are a lot more strict than Brokers whom sale their loans to small wholesale lenders. If you are in the market to buy, there are tons of good deals out there, a home that cost $750,000 3 years ago, might be $550,000 today. There is this that much difference in homes sales around the country currently. Yes currently loan underwriting guidelines have changed; you need more than a pulse to buy a home. Your credit report history is being looked more closely. Here is an article on FHA basics. FHA still has the same guidelines it had 5 years ago, but the lender requirements have changed. For example FHA has no credit score requirement, but the lenders buying the loans require a minimum of a 580 credit score in order to underwrite a FHA loan. Regardless, if you are still able to get a loan with a 580 credit score, I would have to say that is pretty aggressive in today’s market.




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, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student 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

How Debt after a Divorce will affect your Credit Score

We all know how important it is to have as high a Credit Score these days. Especially since your credit score is no longer a secret anymore. Divorce is all too common in today’s society, and when Divorce Decrees are drawn up, the attorney forgets to make sure debts that are joint accounts are only in the person’s name that is awarded that debt per the decree. Typically what the divorce decree will say is whom is awarded what debt. Here is how this is a problem.

How debts after divorce will affect you:
Let’s assume while you were married you and your significant other had accumulated some debt that are joint accounts. This means that both of your social security numbers are attached to the obligations and its being reported to all 3 credit bureaus. So once day you both decide to get a divorce and the attorney works up a Divorce Decree like they normally do, which of course is the wrong way. Both of you go on your marry way, and the other party decided to be late on a obligation that is reporting in your name still. Guess what happens to your credit score. Your score just dropped 150 points. This is a common problem, and of course now it’s your problem even though you have a debt that was awarded to the other party per decree. Let’s assume it’s a house, and your ex decides to let the house go to foreclosure. Now you cannot buy a home for 3 years because you have a foreclosure on your credit report. So basically a divorce decree is a agreement between divorcing couples, it does not separate liabilities.

What you need to do so you’re Credit Score is not affected:
Divorcing couples should never rely on the other spouse to pay bills that were awarded to them per Decree. This is a disaster waiting to happen. These type of issues need to be tackled up front so there is no issues once the divorce is final. If you have already made this huge mistake, my suggestion would be to go back to court and get these debts out of your name. If there is a house involved, I would recommend getting the house refinanced out your name or sold depending on the situation. Obviously if the spouse is behind on the mortgage they would not be able to refinance due to the credit situation. In a situation where the ex spouse is behind on the mortgage and its affecting your credit report, I would recommend going back to court and taking over the mortgage payment along with having the house awarded back to you. The solution to all of this is simple; make sure you don’t have debts in your name that gets awarded to ex spouse. Don’t let your ex spouse ruin your credit. If you have already made the mistake, I would recommend pulling a recent copy of your credit report with credit scores to make sure there is no damage done.

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, Internet identity theft software, secured credit cards, student 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

Survive the Current Credit Crunch

It’s not hard to see that our country is in turmoil currently. You can’t turn on TV without hearing about people loosing there jobs, gas prices being high, recession, foreclosures, and banks going out of business. I figured with this article I would give some tips to protect you and your family’s credit score report. This is probably one of most important times in our history of credit, to make sure you are saving and your credit score is secure.

Personal Finance
A economic downturn could affect your personal savings, investments, and even your job. There are precautionary measures you can take to survive such events.
• Cut back on expenses that are unnecessary, such as cable TV, eating out, frivolous spending, etc……..
• Save 6 months worth of salary in savings account.
• Reduce your Home owner’s insurance policy, shop around for better premiums.
• Reduce insurance costs on your cars.
• Bargain shop for food, clothes, etc….

These are some savings tips that will help you financially with our current economic downturn that we are going through.

Refinance your 15 yr Mortgage
Over the years a 15 yr mortgage might of made since, but of course you could of paid off your mortgage just as quick on a 30 yr mortgage without the pressure of a 15 yr amortized payment.

Equity in your Home
If you currently live in a home and you have equity you might consider tapping into some of the equity for cash on hand. It would be much harder to get a home equity loan if you lost your job.

Rebuilding your credit
If you have had some bumps and bruises, such as a bankruptcy, foreclosure, late payments or collections you don’t have to suffer for the next 7 to 10 yrs. Immediately after such credit issues start rebuilding your credit with secured credit cards. Make sure you have good rental history and save as much money as possible. You really need at least 3 lines of credit reporting, so if yiou can get 3 secured credit cards I would recommend applying for them.

Tax Refund
If you are receiving a tax refund this year make sure you put that towards a debt with high interest charges or into a interest bearing emergency account.

Housing
If you are having issues making your mortgage payment or concerned about a foreclosing on your home here are some number to contact that may be able to assist you. Also make sure you communicate with your current lender as well.
• Home Ownership Preservation – 888-995-HOPE
• Housing and Urban and Development – (888) 569-4287

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, student credit cards , 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

I have no credit scores – How do I establish credit scores?

If you have no credit scores due to being new to the credit arena or you have just been a cash person all your life there is hope for you. There is one sure way to get the credit score calculated in about 4 to 5 months. In this article I will talk about how to establish good credit scores for a healthy credit report.

Secured Credit Cards
A lot of people don’t know this but secured credit cards are the quickest way to establish credit. The reason for this is you give the bank money to secure credit that reports to all 3 credit bureaus. Typically you need about two cards to get the ball rolling. After 4 to 5 months of reporting “bam” you have credit scores. Typically creditors like to see 3 lines of credit reporting for a minimum of 12 months with good payment history. With this type of activity on your credit report, reporting to Experian, TransUnions and Equifax is one of the recipes for success. You will not achieve credit scores if you can not get someone to extend credit to you. That is the secret behind applying for a secured credit card to start the road to establishing this wonderful three digit life altering number.

Here is an example of a mix of credit that Fair Isaacs scoring model uses to determine your risk which ultimately determines your scores.











Buy a house
Once you have about 12 months of rental history, with paying your utilities, and your secured credit cards on-time you will be able to buy a house. Of course you need to qualify for a loan with your current income. Getting a house is not as hard as one might think. If you have a two year work history and have 3 lines of credit like I mentioned earlier you can buy a home. Typically the type of loan you will qualify for is FHA. This is a great first time buyers program. Buying a house will help you get a mix of credit reporting on your credit report. This is around 10% of your overall score. When creditors extend credit to you they like to see that you own a home as opposed to renting.

Keep Credit Card Balances low.
Once you have got secured credit cards reporting on your credit report make sure you keep the balances below 30% of a your secure credit amount.
Example:
Secured Amount: $300.00
Balance at 30%: $90.00

This will keep your scores where they need to be once you establish them. After about 6 to 12 months you can request a limit increase. This is another sure way to increase your credit scores.

Get a car loan.
Getting a car is actually easier than getting just about any other credit. There are all types of lenders out there willing to loan you money on a car loan. You might try getting a loan for a car to establish credit as well. Most car lenders report the note to all 3 credit bureaus. This is another way to get your scores rolling as well. Make sure it’s not some small tote the note establishment that does not report to the bureaus. Make sure the loan is reported to all 3 credit bureaus.

Conclusion: If you follow this advice you will be well in your way to establishing your credit scores. If you are unsure if you have scores get a copy of your free credit score report today.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, student credit cards , 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

Check your Credit Report before an Employer Does.

Did you think checking your free credit score report was not necessary? I would think again, recent studies show most employers are checking your credit as part of the decision process. They are looking into your personal history is to see if you are responsible enough to hold a job. Companies don’t want to hire someone that is financially tapped out; someone that is in this situation might be desperate and attempt to steal.

Jobs that involve money handling
A position that involves an employee handling money will typically require a credit report check. These companies do a background check as well. If a company is hiring you to handle there money, they want to make sure you are very responsible. There are accounts where potential employee applied for a position with a company as was denied employment due to bad credit. If you think your credit report is littered with collections, charge offs and late payments you might want to work on cleaning those types of issues up. This type of activity whether it’s a professional job or a cashier job could cost you a potential opportunity.

Government Jobs
When the government looks into hiring an individual they pull your credit report. They want to make sure you are not a security risk. They also pull your credit after you have been hired. Judy Langley was hired at by the “City of Dallas” for a clerical position. The requirement was once she was hired she had to improve her credit. The city hiring manager knew she had some credit issues, and required that she improve her credit over a 12 month period. In other words if you have past credit issues, your new employer could require you to clean it up.

Your Rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
The FCRA requires written consent on your behalf before an employer can pull your personal credit score report and/ or background check. Nether less if you suspect you have credit issues, and you are in the market to find that dream job you might want to pull a recent copy of your report with scores. Everyone looks at your credit scores as well. When an employer uses your credit report as part of the hiring process, they are suppose to inform you of this. If they deny you employment due to your credit, they are supposed to do two things:

* The employer is supposed to give you a copy of your credit report and give you your rights under the FCRA.

*The employer is also to disclose which company gave the information so they can dispute any information that might be inaccurate.

Rather than go through all of this they will simply say you were denied for other reasons.


Find out what’s on your record
This is why it’s so important to pull your free credit score report regularly, so if you have to get a new job or your current employer is doing credit checks, you don’t want to have issues due to bad credit decisions.






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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, student credit cards , 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

Your Credit Score – Why it’s so important

Credit Score, Credit Score, Credit Score, what is all the fuss about lately with credit reports and scores? We all know anything you do these days is a risk, getting out of your house to go to work you are risking your life. Walking down the street to walk your dog, you are taking a risk. Risk, Risk, Risk, we live in a society now where everyone wants to assess your risk. With the turmoil currently in the lending industry, I don’t personally think banking will ever be the same again. During the housing boom, the standards that assessed your risk was so laid back that it finally caught up with Wall Street. This is why your credit score is so important now. If you ever want to get a loan, you probably want to pay more close attention to your score.

Break down of good to bad credit scores

Since the lenders are now getting extremely tough on lending guidelines there has never been a more important time than now to know your score. Everybody that takes on some kind of risk, whether it’s a employer, landlord, insurance company, bank, mortgage company, credit card company, or a car lot, they all base there decision on your credit score. You keep hearing me say assess your risk in this article and might be wondering how that is done I will discuss this shortly.

Who calculates your credit score?
Your credit score is calculated by software created by Fair Isaac. Fair Isaac is the leading producer and creator of the FICO scores. Most Bureaus use this risk model to determine your score. This software that determines your score is software that was created by the founders of Fair Isaac in 1981. This risk based software has become the standard for determining that 3 digit number. Anything that is attached to your social security number and is reported to the 3 credit bureaus will have a part in determining this score. With all of this being said, shouldn’t you know your score? We are in a risked based society, and in order for someone to take a risk on you they will want to know your credit score. I would not waste anymore time, get a copy of your free credit score report today. It’s just a matter of time before you might need a loan, credit card, rental, etc…….. So get a jump start and learn what they will find out.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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

Is Free Credit Reports a SCAM?

There are lots of Free Credit Reports on the web. I am sure you are asking which one to get. Well there is only one source on the web where you can get your free credit report with all 3 credit bureaus. Annualcreditreport.com is the only place to get your free credit report. As September 1, 2005 everyone is entitled a free credit report once a year. Here are the advantages of this service and disadvantages in case you were wondering.

Disadvantages:
1. You don’t get your free credit scores
2. You only get it free once a year.


Advantages:
1. Its free once a year
2. You get a credit report with all 3 credit bureaus


Free Credit Reports bad Press
The advertisement you see on the web and T.V. can be a little confusing, here are FACTS. The companies that advertise free credit reports with scores are FREE during the trial period. There are different offers, with different companies, but most of them are services through the credit bureaus. Yes, these companies want you to sign up for the monitoring services, especially since identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. Here is what most of the websites that are giving negative press don’t tell you. Annualcreditreport.com does not give you your credit scores.” Well if all creditors look at your credit scores, should you know your scores as well? That would be a “yes.” So if there is a fee to look at your scores, and everyone including your employer wants to know your scores, I would not have a problem paying that fee. To get your credit report with scores usually costs around $14.95 a month. If you don’t call back and cancel these services they will automatically bill you. We all know there is nothing for free, but you do a get a free trial for most of the credit reports services.

How often should you check your Credit Report?

Since annual only allows you to get your credit report once a year, you need other good resources to check your credit. Anything can happen to your credit report during a 12 month period. Your creditors can report negative information by mistake and cause havoc with your credit scores. Someone can steal your identity in a matter of a few minutes. So how many minutes are there in a year? There are 525 948.766 minutes, that is plenty of time for some identity thief to really do a number on your good name. I would recommend checking your credit every 60 to 90 days, just to make sure your there is nothing weird going on with your personal credit report. Don’t listen to all the negative press, until you have heard the facts. And of course you just got them in this article.





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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.

Secured Credit Card Advantages

Secured Credit Cards have many advantages for someone who does not have any credit, or someone with challenged credit. It is hard to do a lot of things without credit cards. In this article I will discuss why you need credit, and if you don’t have credit or your credit is challenged, how secured credit cards will benefit you.

Establish good credit
One of the hardest challenges is to get a creditor to extend credit to someone that has no credit. There was a trick used for years, and that trick was having a family member ad you to there credit card as an authorized user. Recently the FICO® score model was changed because of the fraudulent use of selling authorized user accounts by credit repair companies. This motivated Fair Isaac to change there FICO® score model. So if you are added to a credit account as an authorized user, this can hurt your credit score. This loophole has been closed. The best way to get started in the credit building process or the credit rebuilding process is too get a secure credit card. Secure credit cards require a deposit into a designated account by the credit card company. This is the quickset way to start establishing good credit.


How much credit do you need?
Once you start building your credit, most creditors like to see at least 3 lines of credit reporting on your credit report for 12 months. The standard is getting 3 secured credit cards or at least two will suffice. Once the lines of credit have been reporting to all 3 credit bureaus for 12 months your credit score will start to appear or get better depending on your circumstances. Remember secure credit cards are just a way to get the ball rolling. After you have been paying on your credit cards with no late payments other credit card companies will start offering you credit cards with small credit limits. Typically they will extend around $1000 line of credit to you. With good history they will increase that limit over time. Your credit card balance should never be charged over 30% of allowed credit limit. Fair Isaac talks about this in their score model. Be careful with credit cards, they can consume you if you are not careful. You should never charge more on a credit card than you can pay off that month.


Payment History
If you have one late payment on your credit card, you just defeated the entire purpose of this article and the credit building process. One late payment will slaughter your credit scores. Typically your credit score will drop 100 to 150 points. So if you had a 720 credit score, you now have a 570 score. A 570 credit score will get you denied for all types of credit. So make sure your payment history is in good health. Never be late on anything. Make sure you get a copy of your free credit score report to see where you currently stand.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.

Free Credit Score Report Resource

Free Credit Score Report Resource; have you ever wondered why you might need your free credit score report? There are so many different reasons to have your report; I don’t know where to begin. Let’s start with saving money. I am sure you are interested in saving some money, maybe for that vacation to the Bahamas, or maybe that new car.
Here is the scenario:

Mortgage Loan Amount: $200,000
Good credit interest rate: 6.0 %
30 yr fixed payment: $1199.00

Mortgage Loan Amount: $200,000
Bad Credit Interest rate: 6.75 %
30yr fixed payment: $1297.00

Difference in cost is $35,280 dollars over 30yrs.

This is one good reason why you need to know what is being reported about you. If you are on top of you credit report, like you are on top of your checking account, you will have a lot more money in that checking account. Why?, because you are managing your personal credit so you don’t have to pay higher interest rates, which long term will cost you tons of money. Have you ever heard that saying, only if I knew then what I know now, I would have ………. Its one of those saying where you know you should of, but you didn’t.

I know that an educated consumer is a consumer that pays less, saves more, and retires early. Let’s face it, if you are not RICH, then you have to work and save for retirement some day. Just imagine all the money you would save if your credit score is good. There has been a paradigm shift in our country, from taking someone’s word to pulling your credit to determine there decision for the following:
1. New job
2. New checking account
3. Loans
4. Insurance

Companies are tired of people not paying there bills, so now they have software that can determine your credit risk in a few key strokes. Stay on top your credit, because if you don’t it will cost you.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.

Credit Report- Breaking News

1 in 4 credit reports have serious errors group says. According to a recent study done in 30 states, 79% of the people that had there credit report pulled had serious errors on it. This study was done by a Public Interest research group.

According to this Public Interest Research Group 54% of the credit reports surveyed included personal identifying information that was misspelled, belonged to someone else, outdated or was just flat plain incorrect. Thirty Percent included accounts that were closed but remained open. The 3 Big Credit Bureaus and big business evidently tolerate big mistakes in credit reports “said Ed Mierzwinski, PIRG’s consumer program director. But these mistakes ruin financial reputations of hard working Americans. The 3 largest credit reporting agencies Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax collect information from public records, bankruptcies, landlords, employers, insurance companies and utilities, which use them to determine the likelihood of you paying back your obligations. PIRG advised pulling your credit report regularly especially if you are about to make a big purchase.

“Folks” this is a huge problem, this is kind of like the software that is designed by Microsoft. When you have humans writing software, you can assure yourself that there are going to be bugs in the software that determines your personal credit score. This is the main reason why it is so critical that you pull a copy of your free credit score report with all 3 bureaus. Once you pull your credit report you can go here to start the disputing process if your credit report has errors on it.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.

Common Credit Mistakes – That affect your Credit Score

Your Credit Score could be affected by little mistakes made on your part. These mistakes are made all the time, and most don’t realize the impact on your credit report and credit score. We have seen these common problems quite often, even though you are providing help for a family member or friend.

Co-signing for loans:

One of the most common credit mistake is co-signing on a loan for friends and family members that don’t pay there bills. Yes you thought you were helping someone out, but in return hurt your personal credit. Over the years we have seen more and more people helping out other people with loans, and there credit report is littered with late payments. The result is sorry we cannot help you with the loan you are applying for because your credit score is too low. Late payments will drop your credit score 100 points. So if you had a 700 FICO score, now you have a 600 FICO score. So don’t co-sign for someone else. They need to learn how to establish credit on there own.

Closing Credit Card Accounts:

Fair Isaac Corporation does not recommend closing out credit cards, especially if the card is in good standing. Once you close out a card that is a good revolving line of credit, you just dropped your scores. This credit was reporting in good standing with a credit limit, the credit limit is a part of your credit score. So if you close it, you score will drop due to good credit being removed.

No Credit Cards will hurt your Score:

If you thought it was ok to not have any credit cards, you are wrong. Fair Isaac recommends having credit cards, but using them responsibly.

High Credit Card Balances:

High credit card balances will lower your credit score as well. According to Fair Isaac your balance should not be more than 30% of credit limit. The lower your balance is the higher your credit score will be. This is the quickest way to increase your credit scores.

Don’t give up:

Maybe you have made some mistakes, and now you are on the road to recovery. Remember your credit is just a snapshot of your credit during a particular time. You can always improve your credit by paying down your balances, and being on-time with your payments to creditors.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.

ID Theft Basics – How to Protect yourself

Current studies show that ID Theft is at epidemic proportions. The Federal Trade Commission surveys estimated that there are close to 9.9 million victims and growing by 2 to 3 million a year.

For individuals that are not victims of identity theft, the best thing you can do is check your credit report regularly, focusing on two categories.

• Inquiries from unfamiliar companies. Here we are talking about someone applying for something in your name in a state that you don’t live in. Remember inquiries are the result of you applying for credit.
• Unfamiliar Accounts (tradelines). Are there debts or new credit listed on your credit report that you are not familiar with?

There are 3 major Bureaus that provide services to monitor your credit report. These services give e-mails to you promptly if there are any changes to your report.

What to Do if ID Theft happens to you.
You want to keep a detailed log of events as you start the dispute process. You do this in case you run into problems with a creditor. The first step obviously is contact the 3 credit bureaus, local police, creditors, etc…… You keep detailed conversations logs with any of these entities you communicate with. Also keeps receipts, bills, or out of pocket expenses you incur during the process of disputing. I would also make note of the emotional stress and how it is affecting your work performance and personal relationships. In addition your expenses and time could be tax-deductible in certain circumstance.

Contact Law enforcement
Here is the properties procedure for contacting the authorities so you can file a formal report. You should include all fraudulent accounts in the report. As the Credit Bureaus say they are able to remove disputes, remember to keep a copy of the report number and contact info.
Who to contact:
• FTC.gov/bcp/coline/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf
• Local Police Department
• FTC 800-438-4338 or 800—ID THEFT

Credit Bureaus – Steps to take with the CRAs

• Notify one of the credit bureaus fraud units that you are victim of Identity Theft. This Bureau will be responsible for telling the other 2 Bureaus. (Equifax: 800-525-6285; Experian: 888-397-3742; Trans Union: 800-680-7289)
• Tell Bureaus to flag you credit report with fraud alert
• Get a copy of your credit report with scores
• Once you have read your report, send a dispute letter, accompanied with police report along with the FTC fraud affidavit specifying which accounts are fraudulent.
• Subscribe to the Bureaus monitoring services of your credit report
• Consider signing up for Trusted ID services which will block your credit report so only you can use it.
• Ask the Bureaus to contact the creditors that fraudulent activities have taken place.




Debt Collectors- You will be getting calls from debt collectors more than likely. If they call you:

• Get the debt collectors companies name, address and there phone number. Let him or her know you are noting the time and date of the conversation in your log activity book
• Inform the collection agency you are a victim of Identity Theft
• Provide the FTC uniform fraud affidavit
• Ask for number and name of credit issuer.
• Send the debt collector a letter, stating that you do not owe this debt and that the account has been close.
• Request in writing that the account is being flagged as fraudulent, and is being closed. You also should request in writing that the fraudulent account is being removed from your credit report.


New accounts opened in your name: the Identity Thief has opened new accounts in your good name: what to do. The credit report you pulled should list all creditors that have accounts in your name with contact numbers.

• Notify each creditor of the identity theft that has taken place to you. You will be asked to send a fraud affidavit. (Be sure to put all of this in your log)
• Ask the creditors to send you any application or fraudulent activity that has happened in your good name.
• Add passwords to all accounts
• If the thief has got a hold of your checking account, credit cards, get replacements with new numbers. Call and request these accounts to be closed as well.
• Fill out FTC uniform fraud affidavit.

Your Checking account- If the thief has wrote checks in your name here is what you do.

• Call your local police, and file a report
• Call your bank and close the account immediately
• Remember to keep good logs
• Typically your bank will refund you your money, and ask for a copy of police report filed.

This stuff is serious business; I hope this will help you resolve issues involving identity theft to you.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.

Fix Credit Report - Medical Collections

Medical collections on your credit report will hurt your credit score. There are major issues out there with the insurance claim process. Typically when you go to the doctor and you use your insurance, you would think there will not be problems after you pay your co-pay. I will be the first to tell you that there will be problems if the person filing the claim with your insurance company codes the claim incorrectly. Did you ever think that you would have to do worry about someone filing a medical claim correctly on your behalf? If you thought no, I would have to ask you to think again. The filing process in the medical field is a joke. They typically have someone making minimum wage doing this job, and if your insurance provider does not like the claim they will not pay it and the doctor will come after you for the bill. So you are now forced to be a medical claim specialist, but without the minimum wage pay.

Let’s assume you just ignored the medical bills being sent to you because you assumed your insurance covered it. During a 2 to 3 year period you accumulated 5 to 6 medical collections on your credit report. Now you have credit issues, because someone else did not perform there job correctly. Here is what you can do to fix this problem.

* Get the medical claim number from the collection company.
* Call your medical insurance provider and discuss what the problem was.
* Get something in writing from the collections company to delete collection from all 3 credit bureaus after you verified there was a code filed wrong.
* Once you receive the letter from the collection company, mail it certified mail with a dispute letter. This typically will take 30 days to delete.
* After 60 days re-pull your credit report and see if all 3 credit reporting agencies have removed the collection.


This is a simple process and can be applied to other types of collections. You will hear at times that it’s not necessary to pay off medical collections. Yes for certain types of loans you don’t need to pay off medical collections. It is necessary to pay off medical collections for long term credit health reasons. Your credit report will look much better without any collections, and so will your credit score.

Addresses for Credit Bureaus:

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Alanta, GA 30374

Experian
NCAC
P.O. Box 9595
Allen, TX 75013

Trans Union
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.

What's My Credit Score?

If you’re applying for a loan or credit card, your credit score could have an impact on your interest rate and loan term. So what is your credit score and what does it mean? What does it say about you? Credit scoring is how creditors or lenders assess their risk when lending money to you. They look at your score and it indicates to them how financially responsible you have been in the past.

Your credit worthiness is calculated by credit scoring agencies and bureaus. You should get a copy of your credit score at least once a year and make sure that there are no mistakes or omissions in it. You can get this information for very little money and sometimes for free. Your actual score will be between 300 and 900. Higher scores are much better and can get you great interest rates, longer pay-off periods or terms, lower fees and less paperwork in the application process. Low scoring applicants are usually rejected all together or they are offered high interest rates, high minimum payments and more fees. Sometimes low scoring applicants are accepted based on their employment history or other factors, but generally aren’t as trustworthy as their higher scoring counterparts.

Is your score a good score? 650 or higher is a very good score and will generally earn you the very best terms when applying for loans. If there are a few minor problems with your credit history, such as a couple of late payments in the last few years, then you can score between 620 and 650, which is still a good score. You may run into a few problems with this score, but generally it is still pretty good. You’ll probably end up with slightly higher interest rates than people with excellent credit. Scoring under 620 puts you into a risky category. You may still be approved for a loan, but it will be at the highest interest rates and you may be considered a big risk to lenders.

Things that affect your credit score include your borrowed money payment history, late payments and missed payments. Late and missed payments on a credit card or loan are very big considerations when calculating your credit score. You should try to never make a late payment because it blemishes your record for years. Another thing considered when figuring your credit score is your debt to income ratio. If your level of debt is very high relative to your income, or if the cards you have are close to their spending limits, then your score will probably go down.

If your credit history is very long and you’ve had revolving credit for years, then your score may drop. Trouble paying things off completely makes you look like you are in over your head, or you’re just not trying to pay off your debts. Inquiries on your credit are another thing that is looked at. If you’re constantly applying for credit cards and loans, regardless of your acceptance or use of the instrument, then you look like someone who can’t afford the things that you’re trying desperately to get. Do your research before choosing a loan or credit card to apply for. Multiple inquiries on your credit can hurt you in the long run. Your credit score ultimately depends on you.

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, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, 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.