Cleaning the Mess in Your Credit Report




An important factor that plays an important role in



maintaining a clean credit report is actually the



contents of your credit report. The credit report is



pretty much the story of your financial life,



contained in a detailed document.





The credit report carries the credit score, which is a



numeric ranking usually between 300 and 850. Several



lenders use the credit score to help them decided



whether you are worthy of a credit. More so, the score



is also used to determine your capability of paying a



loan. The credit report is important and cleaning or



maintaining a good credit report is vital to your



financial survival.





A Look inside the Credit Report





In a credit report, the first entry is normally your



personal information. It includes your name, listed



telephone number/s, previous and current addresses,



reported differences of your Social Security Number,



past and present employer and the date of birth.





The information regarding your credit accounts follows



your personal information entry. This is also listed



in detail and normally includes loans, the maximum



loan amount, and information of any joint account



holders or co-signers. The credit report also



incorporate a section, called Inquiries, which lists



any person who has recently requested a copy of the



credit report.





There are some states, wherein the credit report



contains public record information. This information



can feature overdue payments, bankruptcies or other



judgments in the court. Normally, these entries can



last for up to ten years and may affect your chances



of obtaining a loan negatively.





How to Start





Firstly, in order to clean your credit report, you



will need to order a copy of the report. You must



determine what is out of date or inaccurate, after



which you can submit a letter to the bureau requesting



fixes to the information. This process may take a long



time and you may be required to do several follow-ups



with each bureau before achieving a clean credit



report. However, to perform this correctly, you must



be aware of the information the credit agencies are



allowed to report and the duration.





Ordering a credit report can be easily done and



accessible to everyone, since at least one free report



can be obtained by the consumer each year; this rule



is also included under the FCRA or Fair Credit



Reporting Act. More so, the consumer is also allowed



to obtain a free copy of his or her credit report each



year from each of the three major companies handling



credit reporting, namely the Experian, TransUnion, and



Equifax. However, in case you have already obtained a



copy of your credit report this year, you may be



required to pay an additional fee if you want another



copy.





Once you have obtained your report, review it



carefully. Every detail must be inspected since



bureaus can sometimes confuse names, addresses or



employers. Most often, people who have common names



have credit reports that may contain information on



other variations of their name.





Additionally, it is important to perform a periodic



check on the credit report. It is advisable to order a



copy of the report once a year and dispute any



possible inaccuracies. Always take careful steps in



handling your payments and make sure not to make any



late payments. Time is of the essence and even minimum



payments should not be neglected. Remember that



carefully managing your credit can add as much as



fifty points to your credit score per year.



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