a credit report is very crucial to getting approved when applying for a home, car or credit card or any other type of loan. it provides creditors, employers, and insurers with a detailed picture of your credit history. there are many things that might affect your credit score, such as, identity theft, late payments, inquiries, inaccuracies, and unauthorized charges. for this reason, you should check your credit report periodically and make sure that your credit history is accurate and correct.
identity theft is a crime that involves a thief who opens accounts and runs up all sorts of bad credit under your name and information. in 2005, the fbi reported that identity theft the #1 crime in the united states. by checking your credit report, you can see if there are any accounts that you have not opened personally.
sometimes a late payment can occur even when you send out that payment check at the proper time. a check can get lost in the mail which will show as a delinquent payment on your credit report. this can reduce the credit score on your credit report. one way to avoid late payments is by signing up for automatic debit form your checking account or making payments online. there are also existing companies that that will do your bill paying for you for a reasonable cost.
when shopping around for a loan, you should keep in mind that creditors will check your credit which will then produce inquiries on your credit report. too many inquiries can hurt your credit and can be interpreted as a negative by your creditors. each inquiry reduces your credit score approximately to 2 to 6 points and remains on the credit report for 2 years.
having high balances or balances too close to your credit limit on your revolving accounts can hurt your credit. always keep your balances on your revolving credit accounts or credit cards below 40% of the credit limit. high balances can hurt the score, since it calculates the percentage on balances of debt owed to your credit limit. for example: if you have a 10, 000 dollar credit limit an you owe $8000, you are using 80% of the credit limit. keeping the balance below $4000 would keep you below that 40% usage ratio.
many inaccuracies on your credit report can be caused by human error and are not difficult to dispute. by the fair credit reporting act, a consumer has the right to dispute any item on their credit report. items that cannot be verified by your creditors have to be removed from your credit report.
credit fraud and unauthorized charges affect your credit. credit fraud involves the theft of you account number or credit card number. the accounts are fraudulently used without your authorization. this can have a major impact on your life. watching your credit closely and frequently can prevent this from happening or allow you to catch the fraud early on.
when you consider that 50-70% of all the credit reports in the united states are inaccurate, contacting credit restoration company sounds like a good idea. the honest truth is that most of us need to repair our credit in some way. there are some items that are easier to remove than others. some of these items are: inquiries, repossessions, late payments, items older than 2 years, and discharged bankruptcies, and more. the reason for this is that many companies may not be able to find the necessary information to verify the dispute or the creditor is not too concerned with the old account anymore. other items are a little more difficult to remove, but not impossible. these are items such as, recent bankruptcies, current collection accounts, state tax liens, and judgments. they are more complex to remove because creditors keep these accounts as current and are expecting you to pay them. almost all collection agencies and creditors store information about debtors in computers and throw out original signed documents which make it easier to dispute that account.
checking your credit reports and accounts frequently is extremely important, so take action on restoring your credit. don't be another statistic!
by sherene costanzo
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