Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Apply To Check Your Credit Report And Improve Your Credit Score

By Jim Bransby

Your credit score has become the way in which many decisions about you will be made. Applying for credit cards, or for a car loan, will trigger a credit check and generate multiple credit scores, based upon which lender will make decisions about whether and how much to lend, and at what rate. Credit scoring is also used by potential employers, utility and service providers, and many others.

It is therefore incredibly important to improve your credit score. Different credit reporting and scoring companies use different methods to assemble credit scores, but the methods are similar enough that taking certain steps can improve each of your credit scores.

First, a consumer must know the players in the field of credit. There are three major credit reporting bureaus that each have a file pertaining to you. These files are constructed over time by compiling the information that credit providers give the bureaus. Therefore, each time you obtain credit, the report of it goes into your file and is updated over time with a record of your repayment of the debt.

For example, you have a car loan that requires you to make a payment on the 5th of each month for 36 months. Over the first year, lets say that you make two late payments on the 20th of the month, while the rest are considered on time. The lender sends a report of this repayment activity to each credit reporting bureau. Each bureau uses their own proprietary formula to compute your score based on the information reported by creditors to them.

The next step is applying to check your credit report. This is vital information a" think of it as your financial health record. There are many offers available on the internet through which you can apply to check your credit report and your credit score.

After you have gotten your credit report and score, look carefully at the information reported by your creditors. It is important to be sure that all creditors reporting into your file are actually your accounts. If there are creditors on your report that you did not borrow from, your score can be improved simply by having these entries removed from your report.

Finally, review all payment histories to be sure that they are accurate. If a creditor has reported incorrect late payments, or does not show payments that you make, correcting these can greatly improve your credit score. Your credit score report will contain the addresses of the credit reporting bureaus. Just follow the instructions to write to the bureaus and identify errors in your report

The credit bureaus will individually investigate each error. Since it can often take several letters back and forth, keep a file of your letters and their responses. You can dramatically improve your credit score in a short time by removing inaccurate information and records of late payments.

As it is so vital, apply to check your credit report as soon as possible, then continue to do so at least annually. The more you are aware of your financial health record, the more easily you can improve your credit score. Since credit scores are so commonly used today, improving yours will help you in many ways. - 15790

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