GETTING A FREE COPY OF YOUR CREDIT REPORT
If your credit history shows you've made late payments in the past, or if you've taken out loans you've never re-paid, you may have a hard time getting a new lender to lend you any money. And if lenders are willing to lend you money, they're going to charge a very high interest rate-to the point that you may be paying more in interest than you borrowed in the first place.
That's why it's so important to have a good credit history. lf you want to buy a car, get a mortgage, get a credit card, or rent an apartment, the people you want to do business with will want to know you're a good risk. Having a good credit report will save you money and help you accomplish many of your financial goals.
It's very possible that your credit report has some errors. It may show that you're elinquent on an account, when in reality that account should be clean. This is why it's essential for you to get a copy of your credit report, read it, understand it, and make sure it's accurate.
New legislation passed in Congress-the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act )-allows everyone to get free copies of his or her credit reports from the three major credit bureaus once a year. To get your free reports you must call 877-322-8228, or visit AnnualcreditReport.com. This is a centralized service created by the three credit bureaus to help consumers access their reports in one place (while helping the bureaus keep track of which consumers have ordered their reports ) . Warning: lf you go to the Web site, make sure to spell the Web address very carefully. There are imposter sites that have similar spellings, and if you end up at these sites by mistake, they`re going to tell you about other services, which you need to pay for before you get your reports. It's a scam to try to get you to pay for services you don't necessarily need. The AnnualcreditReport.com site is perfectly safe. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-the government agency that deals with consumer protection and other economic issues touching the lives of most Americans sprains that consumers must be careful not to be fooled by these other sites. The FTC recently settled a lawsuit against a company that promised ''free'' reports, but these weren't really free. If you're nervous about making a mistake when you type a web address, you can go to the FTC Web site at www.ftc.gov. There, you'll find a link to the authentic Annualcreditreport.com site.
You can also contact the three credit bureaus directly for copies of your reports, but the copies are free only if you go through the site mentioned above. The three credit reporting agencies Equifax. Experian, and TransUnion offer essentially the same inflammation in their credit reports. Only the layout is slightly different. If you order through Annualreditreport.com, you can get all three for free. You want to make sure they're all accurate, because while report is more important than the others, you don't know which one your lender will see.