Credit Information : Free Credit Report
Can I get a free copy of my own credit report?
Yes! There are many ways to get a free copy of your credit report.
As of Jan 1, 2004, due to the new FCRA Act of 2003, all credit bureaus will be required to give out one free credit report per year. They are rolling this program out slowly as the year rolls on. You can see when you are eligiable for a free report. Note: The Credit Bureaus are not required to give out your credit score for free. If you want to order your score in addition to your free report, most are charging about $5.95. The free reports are good for 30 days only, so make sure you print your reports if you get them online.
You can order your free annual credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling 877-322-8228, or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
When you order, you need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. To verify your identity, you may need to provide some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.
Beware! There are some websites out there who are posing as the free annual credit report site who are engaged in fraudulent activities.
Consumers in the Western states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming – can order their free reports beginning December 1, 2004.
Consumers in the Midwestern states – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin – can order their free reports beginning March 1, 2005.
Consumers in the Southern states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas – can order their free reports beginning June 1, 2005.
Consumers in the Eastern states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia – the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all U.S. territories can order their free reports beginning September 1, 2005.
What if I've already gotten my free report for the year?
If you wish to order more than one report in a year's time, most bureaus will charge you $9.00 for the report and $12.95 if you want to see your score included.
There are exceptions to this one-per-consumer-per-year rule.
A separate key or explanation should be included with the report you receive. Sit down and spend some time with it. If you gave it an honest try and it still seems like Sanskrit, you might ask a trusted friend to go over it with you. Or someone in your personnel office at work, or the dean of students office at your school, or behind the railing at your bank, might be willing to help you. (It's not their job to do this, so remember that you're asking a favor. You may be charged a fee.)
What are "inquiries" on my credit report?
Whenever you or anyone else asks for a copy of your credit report, the request is supposed to be noted as part of your credit history. If you apply for lots of credit cards in a short time, this will produce a flurry of "inquiry" notes on your credit report. Lenders often turn this around and assume that a flurry of inquiries means you've recently applied for lots of credit, so they turn you down on that basis even though the inference is not strictly valid.
If a lender cites "excessive inquiries" as a reason for turning you down, this is what has happened. The lender has guidelines for how many inquiries in what period of time is too many. Unfortunately, you have no legal right to challenge this policy or even to know what the specific criteria may be.
Don't give your name or address to a merchant until you're actually ready to apply for credit there. Some merchants illegally run credit checks on you as soon as they have your name and address, even though you have not applied for credit, to give them an idea of what to sell you and how. (I'm told many car dealers do this.)
I don't know what legal recourse, if any, you have against unauthorized inquiries.
If lender A sees inquiries from B, C, and D but no new accounts, A may assume that B, C, and D turned you down for credit. Figuring "better safe than sorry," A may then turn you down just because it assumes B, C, and D turned you down. Again, this is a judgment call on the part of A, and you have no legal right to challenge it. If you have not applied for any credit recently but have been, say, looking at cars at several dealerships, you might want to let the lender know this in case it's taking unauthorized inquiries into account. See our information on how to remove inquiries from your credit report.
Can you provide any information on profit and loss charge offs? I would like to know how charge offs affect my credit report. Are they debts I need to deal with? And how do they look to companies that are checking my credit history.
Profit and loss charge offs are used most often by credit card companies. They write the debt off on their books as uncollectable rather than spending time and lawyer's fees to collect them. Charge offs are considered a serious black mark on your credit report. Only bankruptcy and foreclosure are worse.
However, even if these companies aren't actively trying to collect from you, these debts are still owed by you to the company. If you refinance your house or apply for a loan, most mortgage companies will make you pay off these debts. The reason is that these debts can be turned into a lien against your property.
Liens matter to a mortgage company for a couple of reasons:
If you need to get charge offs removed from your credit report, you can:
Who makes sure that agencies and creditors follow the laws?
The Federal Trade Commission, (FTC #202-326-2222) is responsible for enforcing federal credit laws.
http://www.my-credit-guide.com
Yes! There are many ways to get a free copy of your credit report.
As of Jan 1, 2004, due to the new FCRA Act of 2003, all credit bureaus will be required to give out one free credit report per year. They are rolling this program out slowly as the year rolls on. You can see when you are eligiable for a free report. Note: The Credit Bureaus are not required to give out your credit score for free. If you want to order your score in addition to your free report, most are charging about $5.95. The free reports are good for 30 days only, so make sure you print your reports if you get them online.
You can order your free annual credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling 877-322-8228, or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
When you order, you need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. To verify your identity, you may need to provide some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.
Beware! There are some websites out there who are posing as the free annual credit report site who are engaged in fraudulent activities.
Consumers in the Western states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming – can order their free reports beginning December 1, 2004.
Consumers in the Midwestern states – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin – can order their free reports beginning March 1, 2005.
Consumers in the Southern states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas – can order their free reports beginning June 1, 2005.
Consumers in the Eastern states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia – the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all U.S. territories can order their free reports beginning September 1, 2005.
What if I've already gotten my free report for the year?
If you wish to order more than one report in a year's time, most bureaus will charge you $9.00 for the report and $12.95 if you want to see your score included.
There are exceptions to this one-per-consumer-per-year rule.
- If you are turned down for credit, employment, or insurance within the last 60 days. Mail a copy of the written proof of your turn down to the credit bureaus, requesting your free report.
- If you were charged higher rates and fees or deposits based on a credit report issued by a credit bureau, you have the right to get a free copy from that bureau
- If you certify in writing that either you are unemployed and plan to seek employment in the next 60 days
- If you are on welfare
- If you write to say you were a victim of fraud
- If you are too impatient to wait for this, you can always order your credit report online:
- Get all three credit bureau's information in one merged report.
A separate key or explanation should be included with the report you receive. Sit down and spend some time with it. If you gave it an honest try and it still seems like Sanskrit, you might ask a trusted friend to go over it with you. Or someone in your personnel office at work, or the dean of students office at your school, or behind the railing at your bank, might be willing to help you. (It's not their job to do this, so remember that you're asking a favor. You may be charged a fee.)
What are "inquiries" on my credit report?
Whenever you or anyone else asks for a copy of your credit report, the request is supposed to be noted as part of your credit history. If you apply for lots of credit cards in a short time, this will produce a flurry of "inquiry" notes on your credit report. Lenders often turn this around and assume that a flurry of inquiries means you've recently applied for lots of credit, so they turn you down on that basis even though the inference is not strictly valid.
If a lender cites "excessive inquiries" as a reason for turning you down, this is what has happened. The lender has guidelines for how many inquiries in what period of time is too many. Unfortunately, you have no legal right to challenge this policy or even to know what the specific criteria may be.
Don't give your name or address to a merchant until you're actually ready to apply for credit there. Some merchants illegally run credit checks on you as soon as they have your name and address, even though you have not applied for credit, to give them an idea of what to sell you and how. (I'm told many car dealers do this.)
I don't know what legal recourse, if any, you have against unauthorized inquiries.
If lender A sees inquiries from B, C, and D but no new accounts, A may assume that B, C, and D turned you down for credit. Figuring "better safe than sorry," A may then turn you down just because it assumes B, C, and D turned you down. Again, this is a judgment call on the part of A, and you have no legal right to challenge it. If you have not applied for any credit recently but have been, say, looking at cars at several dealerships, you might want to let the lender know this in case it's taking unauthorized inquiries into account. See our information on how to remove inquiries from your credit report.
Can you provide any information on profit and loss charge offs? I would like to know how charge offs affect my credit report. Are they debts I need to deal with? And how do they look to companies that are checking my credit history.
Profit and loss charge offs are used most often by credit card companies. They write the debt off on their books as uncollectable rather than spending time and lawyer's fees to collect them. Charge offs are considered a serious black mark on your credit report. Only bankruptcy and foreclosure are worse.
However, even if these companies aren't actively trying to collect from you, these debts are still owed by you to the company. If you refinance your house or apply for a loan, most mortgage companies will make you pay off these debts. The reason is that these debts can be turned into a lien against your property.
Liens matter to a mortgage company for a couple of reasons:
- When you sell your home, the monies owed against a lien (plus interest) must be paid off to clear your title.
- Liens are in a higher position than a mortgage, meaning they get paid off before the mortgage company gets its money. If the mortgage company has to foreclose and you have lots of liens on your home plus a mortgage, the mortgage company potentially could lose thousands of dollars.
- Just because these debts are charged off doesn't mean that the creditor won't come after you later. Creditors have the right to sue you and win a judgment in court until the statute of limitations runs out.
If you need to get charge offs removed from your credit report, you can:
- Pay them off.
- Declare bankruptcy.
Who makes sure that agencies and creditors follow the laws?
The Federal Trade Commission, (FTC #202-326-2222) is responsible for enforcing federal credit laws.
http://www.my-credit-guide.com