Improve Your Credit Score By Checking Your Credit Report

By Jim Bransby

Your credit score has become an important tool that is used to make decisions about you. When you apply for credit cards or a car loan, this will trigger a credit check and generate multiple credit scores. Based upon these scores, lenders make decisions about whether or not to lend to you, how much to lend, and at what interest rate. Credit scores are also used by potential employers, utility and service providers, along with other companies you do business with.

So, improving your credit is score is essential. The method by which the various credit reporting and scoring companies assemble credit scores differs, but these methods have enough in common that you can be confident that certain steps will improve all of your credit scores.

First of all, you need to know who has this information. There are three major credit reporting bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Each of these companies has a file for you and every other person who has consumer credit. These files are assembled over time by compiling the information that credit providers give the credit bureaus. It works like this: Each time you obtain credit it goes into your file, then the lender gives the bureaus a record of the repayment of that debt.

A good example would be a car loan that must be repaid on the 5th of each month for 36 months. Over the first year, letas say that you make two payments on the 20th, while the rest were received on or before the 5th. The lender sends a report of your loan activity to each credit bureau. Each of these bureaus in turn uses a formula to compute a credit score for you, based upon that reported information.

The next step is applying to check your credit report. This is vital information a" think of it as your financial health record. There are many offers available on the internet through which you can apply to check your credit report and your credit score.

After you have gotten your credit report and score, look carefully at the information reported by your creditors. It is important to be sure that all creditors reporting into your file are actually your accounts. If there are creditors on your report that you did not borrow from, your score can be improved simply by having these entries removed from your report.

Finally, review all payment histories to be sure that they are accurate. If a creditor has reported incorrect late payments, or does not show payments that you make, correcting these can greatly improve your credit score. Your credit score report will contain the addresses of the credit reporting bureaus. Just follow the instructions to write to the bureaus and identify errors in your report

The credit bureaus will individually investigate each error. Since it can often take several letters back and forth, keep a file of your letters and their responses. You can dramatically improve your credit score in a short time by removing inaccurate information and records of late payments.

Apply as soon as possible to check your credit report, then continue to monitor it at least annually. The more you are familiar with your financial health record, the better equipped you will be to improve your credit score. Credit scoring is so widely used today that improving you score will help you in a variety of ways.

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To find out exactly how you can get your annual credit report visit my credit report website.