Jeffrey Broobin asked:




The three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union are similar and feature a “Credit Score”, which is created from credit report data submitted to them about you.

But very often your credit report includes inaccurate, wrong or incomplete information (credit records).

In this situation you have to prepare and send letters to each of the credit bureaus. Also learn your credit rights by familiarizing yourself with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

The FCRA gives you the right to dispute inaccuracies or omissions, and it requires credit bureaus to investigate your complaint (generally within 30 days), send you a prompt response and correct any errors. The law also requires the source of inaccurate information (such as a bank) to correct the record at the credit bureaus to which it initially provided the erroneous information.

Consumers working on their credit reports say many times their letters are ignored by the credit bureaus. Consumer’s say even with proof a credit record is not theirs; its removal from their credit report can take three or four challenge letters, because the credit bureaus may have only verified it in their computers and not on the credit report.

Send your dispute letter by CERTIFIED RETURN RECEIPT MAIL. This should not be done with the first attempt.

Keep a record of when you sent the dispute letters and what date you should expect a response.

If you have received no answer to your dispute after 30 to 37 days, send a certified return receipt letter requesting an updated credit report demanding the disputed credit record be deleted.

If the bureaus do not reply within the 30 days, it must be that the information was either inaccurate, or it could not be verified. In either case, according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit record must be immediately deleted from credit report.

Some consumers have eliminated negative marks on credit reports simply by going through this process of disputing credit records several times. Since some creditors will not take the time to respond, you may be able to win by default.

In addition, some consumers working on their credit report have seen another negative credit record or two disappeared. Usually some progress is made each time you challenge. Remember, the credit bureau would like you to quit bothering them because if you aren’t disputing the credit report, they can legally continue selling it as profitable information.

To obtain the excellent credit report service, correct your credit, get FREE online Credit Report, make your Credit Score higher or avoid becoming a Victim of Identity Theft visit at Legal Helpmate Corp

Your credit score is important for obtaining credit. Your credit score is important to know, whether you need a new credit card, an auto loan, or a mortgage. Lenders use your credit scores to decide whether you are a good credit risk. If you have a high credit score, you are more likely to obtain the best rates.

Peggy

Marc Marseille asked:




A 3 credit bureau report can be useful for various reasons. There are 3 key credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, and each of them have their own knowledge about your credit, so to obtain a good credit score, you need all three.

Several financial institutions require a good score with all 3 credit agencies before they will approve you. For example, a house loan won’t be approved if you have a bad credit rating from 2 out of the 3 bureaus. You also will not qualify for low cost life insurance, a credit card with a low interest rate, or some cases even an apartment. In essence, knowing your three score can save you time from applying to services which you already know you will not be approve for.

Another advantage about knowing your 3 credit bureau report score is that it can show you if somebody has been defrauding you or hijacking your credit profile. If, for example, somebody has been opening accounts in your good name without your knowledge, that information will show up on your 3 credit score report as derogatory. The knowledge of this information will allow you to take legitimate action to get the derogatory items removed from your credit bureau report.

There are many ways you can enhance your credit rating, but none of these tactics can be implemented if you do not know your credit score. One solution to improving your score is to acquire a couple secured visa cards and pay off your bills before they are due. If you continually pay off your balances in a timely manner, this will affect your credit score in positive way.

In addition to paying your bills on time, maintaining a low balance on your revolving accounts and credit cards are mandatory. High balances reflects someone who is strap for money which creditors tend to stay away from. You may be surprised at how many points your credit can rise by simply reducing your balances.

In the long run, it is worth it for you to keep your credit in good standing, because it means you will be able to qualify the things that are important to you. The ability to stay on top of your finances does not have to be difficult, the main thing is not living beyond your means. The more discipline your are now, the more rewards you will receive in the future.

Lucy

This Is Not My Real Name asked:


This is somewhat an odd situation. I have had a 2 year credit history with all three credit bureaus prior to this problem. It seems that all of my credit cards have suddenly stopped updating on my equifax credit report. When I try to apply for a new credit card, I get denied because I have “no equifax credit file”
I requested a free credit report with equifax and even they can’t locate me!
It’s as if my equifax credit file just disappeared. But I have previous copies of credit reports from equifax so it obviously did exist. What can I do and what seems to be the problem?

Fyi: experian and transunion is working fine. My credit report is updated and my score is good. But all accounts have not updated since 2007 on my equifax credit report

Paula

Debbie Dragon asked:




There are attorneys and credit repair “clinics” that claim to be able to remove negative items from your credit file. The service is costly, with some providers charging up to $3,500. It sounds great, in theory, because what’s a few thousand dollars for repaired credit? The trouble with this service is consumer’s pay out the money and their credit files are not always repaired.

About Your Credit File- What You May Not Know

Every item listed on your credit report must be proven. If a credit bureau investigates an item and cannot verify that it has been reported correctly, then it must be removed from your file whether it’s true or not.

Whenever there is a negative item on your credit report, you can challenge or deny the negative report at any time. If the item can’t be verified within a reasonable amount of time, it must be removed from the credit report. The older an item is the better your chance that it will not be successfully re-verified. Creditors don’t always keep good records beyond a year or two.

How to Get a Negative Item Removed From Your Credit Report

The procedure to get negative items removed, if they are incorrect, is straight forward. Some of getting an item removed is simply luck, but if you follow the steps you will increase your chances of having the negative items removed.

Tip: Send your disputes in during the busiest time of the year for credit bureaus. Send them during November or December, and if the dispute isn’t verified in time, it will have to be removed from your credit file.

Step One: Obtain a copy of all three of your credit reports- one from Equifax, one from Esperian and another from Trans-Union. You can get one copy from each credit bureau for free every 12 months.

Step Two: Review each report and find any negative items.

Step Three: Use the credit bureau’s dispute process (sometimes online, sometimes a printed form) to dispute any and all negative items.

Step Four: The disputed items are removed or corrected.

Step Five: For any negative items remaining on your credit report, you can try to negotiate with the creditors to be able to make a lower payment to pay the account off The creditor must then report the item to the credit bureau as paid, and change it to a positive rating.

Consumer Rights Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act

The federal laws are in the consumer’s favor when it comes to credit reports. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, there are 5 basic rights given to every consumer:

1. You may challenge the accuracy of the details in a credit report at any time.

2. Any items you challenge must be investigated (and re-investigated) without a charge to you.

3. All challenged items must be investigated within 30 days time or they must be deleted from the file immediately.

4. If errors are found during the investigation, the credit bureau is required to delete or correct the item within your files immediately.

5. If the credit bureau investigates and finds the negative items to be correct, consumers can place a Consumer Statement as part of your credit report as explanation to any inquiries made to your credit file.

Edwin

Hector Milla asked:




Every individual is entitled to one free credit report every year from each of the three major credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The companies have long opened their doors in support of individuals wanting to keep track of what is happening in their own financial world. Any individuals report will contain a score. This so called credit score is meant to indicate how much of a risk the borrower will pose to a lender by rating the borrowers past habits of bill payment, and scoring them.

To receive a score, the individuals past information is sent through a system called the FICO model, which will evaluate the numbers received, and present the assigned credit bureau with the appropriate score. If a borrower requests such a score of any individual from one of the bureaus, the requester will have to pay a fee to the assigned bureau, where the bureau in turn will pay FICO to calculate the score.

Recently, a new way of calculating individual credit scores has been introduced by a new company. The new scoring system is meant to either lower the price FICO charges for its services to the credit bureaus, or to cut this service completely by being able to score individuals information without the middle man.

The new system looks much like an Elementary School Report Card:
Where 900-990 equals A,
801-900 equals B
701-800 equals C
601-700 equals D, and
501-600 equals F

FICA’s scoring system ranges from 300 to 850, where a score above 700 usually means that an individual will pose a low risk to the lender.

The new scoring system has caused for some controversy amongst borrowers because of individuals who would have scored well within a 701-800 score in the past are now being rated within the in C score. The new scoring system is also causing confusion for lenders since they must possibly start to read between the ranks in order not to rank an individual within a lower lending category he or she would have been entitled to when based on the FICA model. This new company, like others, has yet to be tested in comparison to FICO, which means that the final conclusion of whether one is better then the other is still missing. It do seems however, that this new company might present a more reliable rating system when basing a lending decision with any borrower.

Bernice

Hector Milla asked:




There are plenty of places that you can receive a detailed credit report. Equifax is one of the three credit bureau agencies. Everyone is entitled to one free finance report each year. There are a couple of things the report will show including; credit scores, opened and defaulted accounts, phone and address information and much more.

Many people seek an up-to-date credit report to make sure their identity has not been stolen. With the increase of identity fraud, account agencies are now offering people the chance to protect themselves. Some of their account services include annual credit report requests, fraud alerts, freezes and dispute options.

How To Request a Free Annual Report From Equifax

To get an up-to-date report from Equifax, go the agency’s main website. Next, you will be asked to request a report by choosing your current state of residence. After that, you will be taken to another page which will require you to fill out some basic information such as your name, date of birth, social security number, current address (and past address if it applies). People have the option to receive reports over the web, or in the mail (or a combination of both). The site is also sponsored by the other two account agencies; TransUnion and Experian.

From there, you will receive a report that shows all of your activity regarding loans, lines of credit, employment and address history.

It is important to check your financial status every year in order to monitor for scams, fraud and unlawful charges. Some people’s lives have been tarnished because they didn’t know they were a victim of identity fraud.

Viewing Credit Scores

There is a small fee for viewing specific scores. This is essential to those who want to know what their chances will be of getting a loan from creditors in the future. Most creditors are worried about lending money to those who have a poor credit score.

Fraud Alerts and Freezes

Requesting a fraud alert is quite simple. The alert will remain active for 90 days. There are options to extend the alert (the information is available in a free downloadable PDF document on the main website). When a fraud alert is made, your personal information and alert will be forwarded to the other two agencies (which means you don’t have to contact them separately). This is a good option to protect your identity and credit.

Kathryn

Jeremy Zongker asked:




A Credit Bureau, also known as a Credit Reporting Agency or Consumer Reporting Agency, functions as a central repository of credit and collection records, payment history and certain legal information on consumers and businesses. These records are sold to credit grantors and lenders whenever a consumer or business applies for credit. The three major U.S. credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A fourth credit bureau, Dun and Bradstreet Corp., specializes in reporting business credit information exclusively.

Local credit bureaus first appeared in the United States around 1860 and were primarily designed to provide local merchants with a way to keep tabs on local citizens who traded in the merchant’s immediate community. Credit bureaus began to spread across the country after the end of World War I when returning soldiers began looking for money to buy homes, automobiles and consumer goods.

As credit purchases began to replace cash as the primary currency for the purchase of big-ticket items, and the nation became more mobile, the need for national credit bureaus became apparent.

Today’s credit bureaus store over 1 billion consumer and business records, and almost 2 billion individual credit transactions are entered into those records every month. With all of this activity there is always a chance that a credit record may contain errors. That’s why the U.S. Government passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA). Both of these acts set out requirements for credit bureaus to maintain fair and accurate records, provide a way for consumers to view those records, and respond to consumer complaints of inaccuracies should they exist.

The introduction of the Internet, and the World Wide Web in particular, gave lenders a new and profitable way to make credit-based lending decisions on-line and “instantly”. This made it possible for charge card issuers and lenders to offer credit to consumers who were willing to fill out credit applications online. Key information from the application, including the applicant’s full name, address, Social Security Number and date of birth is transmitted over the Internet to the lender’s particular credit bureau. The credit bureau’s computers look up the consumer’s record and calculate a credit score based upon certain financial criteria. If the score is above the lender’s minimum threshold, the application is instantly approved and both the lender and the borrower are notified.

Under Federal law, all U.S. residents are entitled to one free copy of their credit report annually, from each of the three major credit bureaus, without any cost or obligation. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com for details.

Janice

Tony Banks asked:




You have a credit score with the three main bureaus, Equifax, Transunion and Experian. Each bureau has come up with their own version of the credit scoring formula which is unknown to the public.

This creates a situation where your three scores are highly unlikely to be the same. The credit score that a lender looks at when qualifying you for a loan really depends on the type of lender. Most consumer credit, car and personal loan lenders use only one score to determine if you will get approved and to determine your interest rate and terms. The geographical location of the lender sometimes determines which bureau they will turn to for that score due to business relationships.

The relationship between a lender and a credit bureau is just like any business relationship. The lender will pay to have access to each credit report and score from the chosen credit bureaus.

On the other hand when you are dealing with mortgage loans, the lender will look at each of your three credit scores. (Equifax, Transunion & Experian) They will base their approval on your middle score. For example your Equifax score was 654, your Transunion 669 and your Experian was 704.

Your mortgage interest rate and loan terms would be based on your Transunion score of 669 because it’s the middle one in terms of the value of the number. It is a good idea to check your credit reports with each of the credit bureaus before you apply for a loan. This way you can make sure there are no errors that will negatively impact your credit scores.

Corey

Lyn Collier asked:




You don’t have to sign up for a trial membership of a credit protection service to get free copies of your credit reports. There a few one-stop websites where you can order credit reports from all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. It’s easy. One site, Annual Credit Report, is even recommended by Consumer advocate Clark Howard as well as the Consumer Credit Counseling Service.

By the way, your “credit report” is not the same thing as your “credit score.” The reports will give your credit activity only – not your FICO score. The FICO score is a number that is generated using info from all three agencies. It is a product of Fair Isaac Credit Org. (FICO) and must be purchased – $15.95

When you get to the site and start clicking around to request your free report, a few things might concern you. The main thing…and it is kind of unavoidable is the request for you to enter your Social Security number. If you have strong reservations about entering your SS number online, you can just skip the rest of the article and look up the 800 number and do the transaction on the phone. But either way, you will to have to provide your social security number.

Back to the online request. At some point during your online request for a free credit report , each bureau will try to sell you their products. Stay focused.

Here is the protocol for Experian for example: (and they are all pretty much alike so I will spare you the details on the other 2)

Step 1 on the Experian site will offer to sell you your Experian credit score for $5.95. Each bureau assigns a score, but their scores do not represent your FICO score.The FICO score is the one that most creditors use. I don’t recommend buying a credit score from anyone other than FICO. it’s the only one that counts. When asked if you want to purchase your “Experian” score, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “No thanks, I just want my free annual credit report.”

You will cruise through the steps pretty quickly. The only time you might have a problem is if you don’t answer the identification verification questions correctly. If you answer incorrectly you will be given a toll-free number to call where your i.d. can be verified manually.

Once you are done on the Experian site, you will be prompted to return to the Annual Credit Report site and continue with the other credit bureaus.

All the sites will walk you through the same process offering to sell you their products along the way. Remember, your goal is to get free credit reports, not buy stuff. Follow the prompts and you will instantly get your three credit reports free of charge.

Louis

Donald Saunders asked:




You have probably heard the expression ‘three bureau credit report’ but have you ever wondered just what it is and why it is important?

Within the United States the three major credit bureau companies are Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. Each of these private companies keeps a credit file on you containing personal information (such as your name, address and details of your employment); details of your payment history on credit card accounts, mortgages, car loans and other loan agreements; details of any public records concerning your finances (such as notices of bankruptcy and court judgments) and details of any inquires made to the company by creditors concerning your financial standing.

In addition to the credit file maintained on you, each company also uses its own formula to calculate a credit score for you which is designed to give potential lenders an indication of your credit worthiness and therefore of the risk that they would be taking if they were to grant you a loan or extend credit to you.

It is important to understand that these three companies all operate independently of each other and so the information held by each, and the credit score calculated by each, may well differ. In general, most major lenders, such as banks and credit card companies, furnish information to all three companies but many smaller lenders, such as local department stores which issue their own store cards, may well only provide information to one of the three companies.

You are entitled to request a copy of your credit report from each of these companies once a year free of charge and more frequently if you wish for a fee. However, to make life slightly easier it is also possible to obtain a three bureau credit report which allows you to view the contents of all three credit reports in a single document.

So, why is this important?

The contents of your credit report files will determine whether or not you are able to obtain credit in the future perhaps to buy a house, a new car or help to fund a child’s college education. What could be worse than applying for a loan to buy your new dream home only to find that you are turned down because of your credit history?

Building and maintaining a good credit history should be an essential part of your overall financial planning throughout life and this means ensuring that you have the best possible credit report on file with each of the three credit bureau companies.

Your starting point should therefore be to obtain a three bureau credit report and check that the information currently recorded is correct. Companies do make mistakes and it is not unknown for people with good financial standing to have a poor credit score because of errors on their credit report files. You should therefore check the report carefully and take steps to correct any inaccuracies to make sure that your credit files are accurate.

Having established that your credit history is accurate, or taken steps to correct any errors, you should then work to achieve the best possible credit score and, most importantly, keep an eye on your credit history be requesting copies of your three bureau credit report at regular intervals.

Alan