Wondering how to get your credit report? If you’re worried about the state of your credit you can find out exactly what’s on your report. It’s in the best interests of every consumer to know what’s in their credit report. You might already know about the new free credit report that comes out once a year.
Under the new laws all consumers are all entitled to one free credit report. These are credit reports from the major national credit bureaus and you can get a free copy from each of them once a year. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion administer an online site where you can get your report via Annual Credit Report. Or you can phone toll free on: 877-322-8228. If you prefer you can write to P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
But make sure you use the pre-printed form, because you won’t be allowed to see your report unless you answer all the appropriate questions. A free credit report is also available from other institutions under certain special circumstances such as: being denied credit, insurance or a job within the last 60 days. If you feel that the information on your report is false, you may also be granted free access to your report by a credit bureau.
Checking your Credit Report for Errors
So once you have your credit report what should you look for? Examine all the entries on your report using the credit agency legend. Use it to make sure all the codes are correct. Make notes of any entries that seem erroneous. For starters you should be checking that your name, address and contact details are correct. Next make sure that your marital status is listed correctly.
If you have any accounts listed as "joint accounts" verify the correctness of these details. If you have had any court settlements, are these listed accurately on your credit report? You also need to check if any of the information on the report is outdated. If an item is older than seven years it is considered outdated. However a bankruptcy may remain on your report for ten years.
Examine your account information. If an account has been closed it should not appear as “open” on your credit report. If you have closed the account the item should be coded as: “closed by consumer”. If you have not closed the account yourself it may have been closed by your creditor which is not a good sign.
Note how many times an account appears on your credit report. It shouldn’t appear more than once. Examine the details of late payments, credit entries or pre-marital debts of your spouse to make sure that these are all correct. Check to make sure that your profiles, credit limits and account balances are correctly reflected on your report.
If you want to take steps to protect yourself from identity theft you can sign up for a fee based service. Typically this includes a credit report every three months and also provides for fraud cover. You can also obtain your credit score via a fee-based credit reporting company.
