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Check Credit Score

Credit Rating Scores
Posted: June 9, 2009

Just why is it important for you to check your credit score? Well there are a number of reasons to check credit score.

First of all you need to know what your credit scores are before you apply for a car loan or go out and look at all those new homes and fall in love with one of them.

There are three main credit bureaus. These are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Every creditor may not report to all three credit bureaus. They may only report to one. So, if you get a copy of your credit report from just one of the bureaus you may not see all that is being reported about you to the credit bureaus.

This is why you need to get a copy of your report from all three credit bureaus. This is what is called a tri merge credit report. You do not have to order a credit report from each bureau. You can get a tri merge credit report from many different sources.

Credit Score Information

If you are planning on buying a new home it is good to let the mortgage company, where you plan to apply for financing, retrieve your credit report.

This way you won't have many different sources checking your credit scores. Even though inquires do not impact your credit score much, too many credit inquiries can be a negative for your credit score.

If you are not planning on buying anything right away then you can retrieve your credit report online. You can get a tri-merge report from any of the three credit bureaus online. There will be a charge for your credit report.

The credit bureaus have different scoring models for different kinds of purchases. If your credit rating is checked in order for you to obtain a credit card your scores will show different than if you were having your credit checked to obtain a home loan. The scoring model for buying a home is much more strict than for getting a credit card. After all the amount of these type loans is a much bigger risk for the creditor.

You typically will find a consumer score, a car loan score and a mortgage loan score. If you retrieve your credit score from one of the online sources it will more than likely be a consumer score. So, don't be surprised if your scores are much lower if your credit report is retrieved by a mortgage loan company.

Other reasons to check credit score is, their may be items posted to your credit report file that do not belong to you. This is very common if you are a Jr. or Sr. or have a very common name.

There may be items on your credit file that you have paid but still reflect as unpaid. These can be affecting your credit rating negatively. I have seen this happen many times. It is really best for you to send a letter along with a copy of your paid receipt to the 3 credit bureaus yourself, especially if you are paying off an old collection item.

You may find that you don't have enough credit to have a good credit rating and need to open some new tradelines in order to establish a good credit history. Learn about credit score ranges and what percentage of people fall into the different ranges, whats a good credit score and where your score falls within those ranges.

Credit Score Monitoring

A lot of people find it a good practice to sign up with a credit score monitoring service so they can be notified via email when there is a shift in their credit scores. This way they can know what impact their own credit activity is having on their credit scores and in addition they can have a heads up on any attempted identity theft.

Improve Credit Scores

If you find your credit scores are not what they need to be and you want to learn how to improve your credit score then check out this site: How To Fix Credit.

Improve Your Credit Score to 720
Posted: June 28, 2010

Lenders, especially mortgage lenders, have continued to tighten their credit score requirements. To get approved for a mortgage loan, car loan, personal loan or most any other type of credit has become harder and harder to get if you have not taken care of your creditworthiness.

Having good credit scores is no longer just nice to have; it is essential to your future if you want to survive and prosper financially.

It is no longer a matter of just needing a good credit rating if you want to borrow money. Credit scores are used by more and more companies to determine if a person is someone they want to do business with.

Insurance companies do credit checks to determine premiums charged. Employers perform background and credit checks before hiring. The same for cell phone companies before selling services without a deposit. Everyone today wants to know if you are a credit risk before they do business with you.

Until the mortgage mess a few years ago a 720 FICO score was considered a really good score and would get the applicant some of the best loan terms. Today that limit has risen to 740.

In addition, in the past a borrower could get a 100% mortgage loan with just a score as low as 580. Today that limit has been raised to 620 and the 100% is almost impossible to find.

Today, people with good credit ratings are still getting credit card offers and loan approvals. Because of their good credit scores they have some leverage and can pick and choose from the offers available on the market.

Those with lower scores are finding their access to credit disappearing. It is not just getting harder to find, but in a lot of cases literally is not available.

Not only are people not able to purchase homes, they are finding it hard to even rent an apartment because there are fewer apartments available and landlords can be more selective and are choosing those with better credit ratings.

Now that you understand the current importance of establishing and maintaining a much better credit rating let’s talk about how you can improve your credit scores.

First, you can’t improve your scores if your finances are still in the tank. If you are unable to pay your bills or are constantly late making your payments then you can’t raise your credit scores. This improvement will have to wait until you can get a handle on your finances where you can start paying your bills on time and pay down your debt.

Next, you can’t raise your credit scores if you don’t use credit. If you have cut up all your credit cards and stopped buying anything on credit and left your credit report with nothing but collection items on it, then you are not doing anything to re-establish new, good credit in your file from which your scores are calculated. Just paying off your old collections is not going to improve your credit scores enough to really help you out.

You don’t have to pay interest in order to use credit and show that you are creditworthy. Charge something monthly and promptly pay the bill in full when it arrives. This activity is going into your credit file which is then used to calculate your credit scores.

Don’t expect overnight results; after all your scores didn’t tank overnight. However, if you are serious about your financial future you must start now to improve your scores.

A good start is to get a copy of your credit report and scores. This will give you a basis to compare and check credit score in the future. Verify the correctness of all the items being reported about you. You may be surprised at the number of errors in people’s files that affect their livelihood.

Once you have corrected any errors then start establishing some new good credit while concurrently paying off any outstanding collections or active debt. Don’t just payoff old debt without also establishing new credit which you manage correctly.

You can’t fix what you just “think” is the problem. You have to know exactly what is on your credit report and what your scores are before you can begin to improve those scores.

Get your Credit Score from CreditScore.com! then if you need additional help with actions you should take to clean up your credit report and improve your credit scores visit: Improve Credit Score.

It is good to sign up with a Credit Monitoring Service so that you can keep an eye on the shifts in your scores. If you are doing nothing then you need to see the negative impact that is continuing to have on your scores. If you are working on improving your scores then you need to see what impact the different actions you are taking are having toward improving your scores.

Here is a recommended Credit Monitoring service where you will Get email alerts when your Credit Score changes at CreditReport.com. Get started today! I can't emphasize enought the importance of taking action today for the benefit of your own financial future.

Child Credit Report - Are You Guarding Your Child's Credit Report and Scores?
Posted: Nov 2, 2011

You may be saying "What, my child has a credit report?". And the answer is yes they may have a credit report and score.

One of the most common ways for your child to build a credit report is you, the parents. When you add your child as an authorized user on your credit accounts, like credit cards, the lender will then report the credit activity for both you and your child, thereby establishing a credit report for your minor child.

If you are very creditworthy, this can be good for your child. If you are not, then you may be damageing your child's future use of credit.

A more serious problem when it comes to a child's credit report and scores is identity theft. Predators and scammers may get access to your child's social security number and use it illegally for years without you or your child knowing it if you don't check your child's credit report on a frequent basis.

Recently the Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona warned consumers to steer clear of a new scam involving those that promise to improve consumers' credit scores using a CPN (credit protection number).

They reported that scammers often get the numbers by finding dormant Social Security numbers via the computer; often those assigned to children. These SSN numbers are sold to people who establish phony credit and run up huge debts that they will never pay off. These scammers call these numbers CPN numbers rather than Social Security numbers.

If your child's social security number is being used by a scammer it may go unnoticed until you start getting calls from collections agencies or your child tries to use their credit for something for them, like a new car, apartment rental or student loan.

In this day and time, if you have children, it would be worth the cost to constantly monitor their credit report and scores to avoid any disaster down the road. Yes, you can report any fraudulent activity and get it removed from your child's credit report but it will take months. And, the more that is accumulated the more of your time it will take. In the mean time your child is unable to use their credit for new credit items, like a new car, apartment, student loans or credit cards.

New Scam With Children
Posted: April 6, 2011

One of the latest scams is to file a tax return using someone else's child as a deduction in order to get a refund. Then when the real parent tries to claim their child there is a problem which causes a major delay on the legitimate deduction and refund.

Where this action does not directly affect your child's credit report or scores it means that someone else has your child's Social Security Number. This means that their number can be used for other scams that will affect your child's credit history in a negative manner.

Just another reason to monitor your child's credit report and scores on a regular basis.

Warn Your Child About This.
Posted: Feb 26, 2011

In order for a person to join a membership or sign up at some websites they are now required to enter the last four digits of their social security number and the city in which they were born.

Worn your children or, even adults, against entering this information. With those two pieces of information it is reported that it is possible to come up with your whole social security number which can then be used in fraudelent activity.

The Elderly Are Another Group that are often Victims of Identity Theft.
Updated: Nov 4, 2011

The elderly are also often preyed on by credit scammers because the older one gets one tends to use credit less often and therefore, check their credit scores and credit history less often than they used too.

If you are elderly or maybe responsible for your elderly parents then make it a point to monitor their credit scores and report on a frequent basis. There may come a time that an elderly person wants to use their credit rating again for some purchase. And certainly you don't want a lot of unpaid debt to muddy the water when settling an estate.

Credit Report Surprises
Posted: May 22, 2011

One of the items that I find that people are the most surprised to find on their credit reports is a collection item for an old Cable TV converter box. Turn those things in, because the Cable companies do report the failure to return these boxes to the credit bureaus. And, when you do return the box be sure and keep the receipt for years. That receipt will be your only proof that you did return the box. Many people that I have worked with have had to pay the collection item for the box just because they could not prove that they had turned it in.

Storm Damage and Your Credit
Posted: July 6, 2011

I live in a state where many, many people lost their homes from recent tornadoes. Picture your belongings being carried hundreds of miles from your home by these huge funnel clouds. People have reported their check books, bank statements and other personal paper work items being found by people in towns hundred of miles away.

Many people are honest and have made honest efforts to return these items to their rightful owners. But, there are others not so honest.

If you have been victim to this devastaing storm damage then consider that you need to keep an eye on your credit report and scores for some time in order to make sure that people are not using your SSN or credit card numbers to your detriment. Get your Credit Score from CreditReport.com - fast, free and easy! Then you would be wise to monitor your credit report and rating for some time just to be sure that no one has found any of your documents and playing havoc with your credit history.

You Can Check Your Own Credit Scores
Posted: March 11, 2011

Some people think that only financial institutions and such can check their credit scores and because so many of these companies refuse to share those credit scores with their applicants people have come to believe that their credit score is some deep dark secret.

Not only can you check your own credit scores and view your credit report it is a good idea to do so for reasons that we have previously stated above.

So, don't let others intimidate you about something that belongs to you. Go check your credit scores and monitor your credit history on a frequent basis.