Free Credit Reports: Get Yours Today!

You may have seen the ads telling you where you can get copies of your consumer credit reports for free. Read the fine print and you will see that there is some sort of catch with these ads that will ultimately cost you money. You don?t need to pay for your reports no matter what someone else says. Let's take a look at how you can really and truly get copies of your credit reports for free.

Thanks to an amendment made to the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2003, Congress authorized the Federal Trade Commission to mandate that copies of your credit report be made available to you for free. Previously, in order to secure your report, you would have had to pay a fee. As of September 2005, residents of all fifty states are now eligible to obtain a free copy of their credit report from Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax once per year.

So, why were the reports made available at no charge to consumers? Well, even though all three companies operate independently from the government, combined they carry so much weight in determining your credit standing ? and your very livelihood ? that a decision was made that everyone should have access to their personal reports on demand. Furthermore, since a significant number of these reports have been determined to contain errors, consumer advocates insisted that you shouldn?t have to pay to correct someone else's mistakes. Enter the Fair Credit Reporting Act as amended in 2003.

There are several ways you can order your free credit reports, but there is only one web site that will give you your reports for free: . Again, only this one site acts on behalf of Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union to give you your reports to you for free.

You can also call the following toll free number to order your free credit reports:
1-877-322-8228

If you wish, you can place your request in writing after downloading and filling out a form found online at If you choose this method, you will need to mail the form to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service

P.O. Box 105281

Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

For more information about the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Federal Trade Commission, please visit the following site:

When ordering your reports you can also request your FICO score. Unlike your free credit report, you will pay a small fee ? typically between $5 and $7 ? to get your score. If you elect to learn your score you can use a credit card to pay for your transaction. The three national credit reporting bureaus may also attempt to sell other services to you while you are checking off the information for your free credit report. These services include alerts, but you probably won?t need them. If you select some of the other offers, you will be charged for the service, so be careful what you pick.

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Second Chances For Credit: Self Help Credit Repair

A lot of people give up, so to speak, when they feel like their credit is ruined. They don't feel like there is any point to trying to apply for things that they want because of their tarnished credit. However, gaining knowledge on what you are eligible will help you to achieve the things that you need without having to worry about credit issues.

Each creditor will set their own standards for deciding whether or not you are eligible to be approved, and their views on your credit history will vary. There are some that will only look at your record from recent years, and some will be more lenient with giving you credit if it appears that your payment history has steadily improved. A good way to determine whether or not you will qualify with a company is to call the creditor directly and discuss their regulations with them. The worst that could happen is that you could be denied, and even though this may be an incredible blow to your ego, you will not be any worse off than before you made the phone call.

Many creditors are open to working out a repayment schedule. However, you should only consider this option if you are unable to work out a schedule for yourself but you feel like you can work under the deadlines of a creditor's budget. There will be no good result if you waste someone's time making them find the best option for you, and then fall behind on your payments again. There are also credit organizations as well as non profit companies that are dedicated to helping people get on schedule with their payments, but try to research these companies before enlisting their help because they are not always trustworthy. You should also make sure that you learn about all of their fees upfront whether they are higher than average or hidden fees. Also, just because a company is non-profit, it doesn't mean that you have to make a contribution. If you were in a position to give money away, you would not be requesting their help. If you are going to get help from a management company, make sure that you find one that will conduct their services in person as opposed to the Internet.

Too often people feel the only way out of a bad credit situation is through Bankruptcy. Filing for Bankruptcy is not the easy way out at all. When you file for Bankruptcy it will take you at least seven years to recover and your goals of buying a house or a car will be even further out of reach. In October of 2006 a new amendment was added to the Bankruptcy laws stating that everyone filing for Bankruptcy must seek credit counseling within six months of filing. If you think about it, it might be worth your while to seek the counseling and learn how to better manage your credit rather than file for Bankruptcy and postpone the inevitable.

The point is that a few mistakes on your credit may not ruin it forever. Don't give up and think that you will never be a homeowner, you will be forever uninsured, and you will always be riding the bus. You can choose to try and fix your mistakes, or you can simply inquire about the possibility that a creditor may look at your recent history, and forgive you.

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Understanding The Credit Scores

Why does it matter?
One of the reasons that many people get a credit card is to boost their credit score. They might be looking into getting a large personal loan for a project, a car loan, or even a mortgage and with such large sums of money; a lower interest rate comes in handy. It has no limit to how much it can save someone. One simple blunder on a credit report can be the difference in getting approved or denied for a loan.
Where can I get mine?
It is possible now for an individual to obtain their credit report online for free, once a year from each of the three main credit reporting agencies of Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. It is critical to check yours every so often for any errors. A wealth of information is stored in the credit report including your open accounts, balances, history of payment, and previous addresses. Quite a few things could be wrong on the report as well so keep a close eye on this. A company could have reported that you missed a payment when you did not or fraudulent accounts that you know nothing about could pop up. It is safer to keep a close watch on all of these factors to protect yourself.
What does this information mean and how is it used?

Banks and credit card companies alike use all of this information to determine what an interest rate will be and how much of a loan or limit can be given. The risk of you defaulting on the loan amount and whether or not you have a history of on time payments is what they are mainly looking for. The amount of open lines of credit in comparison to debt is another factor. For example, if you have 2 Credit Cards with limits of $2,000 each your overall limit is $4,000. Going further, let us say that you have $1,000 of this $4,000 used. Your credit to debt ratio is 4:1 and will be seen as a positive thing. They do not want to see an individual who is given a higher limit use it all right away and then end up not paying them. As a general rule, never use more than 30% of your approved limit on any credit card.
How is my score determined? The FICO credit score, which is used in over 90% of banks, has a formula to it.
?35% is based on payment history. If you have been late, how late, by how much, etc? Keep that in mind if you're ever contemplating a late payment

?30% is based on how much money you owe overall to all of the open accounts you have. If a lender feels like you owe too much already you will not be given any more.

?15% is based on your past credit history. Lenders want to lend to people who have shown a consistent history with repaying their debts.

?10% is based on the types of credit used. A mortgage on a report is more positive than a similar amount that is due to credit card debt.

?The remaining 10% is based on new credit and just how many credit lines have been opened for you lately. They do not want to see you going and applying everywhere.

Keep these hints and pieces of information in mind when applying for Credit Cards and other loans as well.

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Credit Report And Credit Score

Credit Report and Credit Score is used to check credit worthiness of a person. Credit score is based on the data provided by the credit report that indicates payment history, accounts, etc. Today many lenders and retailers take the help of credit report and credit score to lend credit. Credit report and credit score helps the bank lenders to judge the credit worthiness of a person at the time of allotting him credit.

Person with bad credit report and score find it difficult to raise the credit whereas the person with good credit score and report does not face any financial stake. The credit report and score provides a true picture of a person's financial position. But it is the initiative of individual or financial institution to ask for it. This credit report and score are provided by credit bureau within few days of your request.

It is advisable that every person must understand his/her credit report. Initially the law prohibited for its disclosure but later on it was made available on request. It is vital that one should check his/her credit score and report any errors found. Remember a small error in your credit score can harm your credit report in a big way. Generally credit score ranges from 300-750 but many people have their credit score within 600-750. In business terms, score above 700 is regarded as excellent credit score.

Why Check Free Credit Report and Score?
Checking Credit Card does not harm your credit score. Checking removes the bad remark in your credit report and similarly in the credit score. It indicates your financial position in the business. Regular updating of credit report also helps to rectify any major financial error. If you find any error or mistake in your credit report assure that you rectify it immediately.

How can you get your Credit Score?
It is true that credit score is totally based on the content in credit report. As the content in credit report varies there is variation in your credit score. It is possible to view your credit report online just by requesting for it. The credit report and credit score that you get through these online services do not cost much.

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