Many people view credit reports like a visit to the dentist - it's something that has to be done but they don't like it. This is especially true for people who have had financial problems in their past, but the fact is it's important to be familiar with your credit report because if you ever need to apply for a loan, that is where the lender will get their information.
There are 3 major crediting reporting services in the US:
Equifax: PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374
Transunion: PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022
Experian: PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013
Your credit report contains a history of your credit cards, car loans, home loans and other debt. It shows any late payments, how late they were, 30 day past due, 60 day past due, etc.
Any qualified lender has access to that information - a bank, mortgage lender, credit card companies and certain other parties during legal proceedings.
The credit reporting agencies do their best to keep accurate records, but errors can creep into your report. This is one of the main reasons you need to keep on top of your credit report - these errors can have a negative effect on any financial matters if left uncorrected.
Some of the more common errors include loans that have been repaid still showing as active and long-cancelled credit cards still showing as active.
By getting copies of your reports from all 3 agencies, you'll be able to review them for any errors or inaccuracies. They can be corrected, however. You'll need proof of the error, which you'll need to send by registered mail to the credit reporting service along with the details of the error. Ask them to correct the data - by law they need to investigate any errors reported to them.
Recent legislation has made it so that you can obtain one free copy of your credit report annually, so as long as you don't request more than one per year you shouldn't have to pay for it.
How Get Credit Report
When you take advantage of the convenience and flexibility of credit cards and other forms of credit, you may expose yourself to a lot of monetary pitfalls that are hidden in the fine print. Fortunately, at Lexington Law, we have the knowledge and tools needed to repair your credit report so that it provides potential creditors with the best possible picture of your financial condition.
Our service takes advantage of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 USC 1681 et seq.) which provides recourse for consumers who feel that their credit reports don't accurately reflect their ability to repay loans. Basically, the FCRA gives the consumer the right to contest specific items on their credit reports that they feel are erroneous, unverified, or simply misleading. This sounds great for consumers, but unfortunately the credit bureaus aren't as interested in fairness as we are and will exercise their right to dismiss disputes on the grounds of being "frivolous or irrelevant."
The ability to dismiss disputes without giving them fair consideration stops most consumers in their tracks when they try to repair their FICO score themselves, but with Lexington Law it's a completely different situation. That's because we have the detailed knowledge of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other consumer credit laws necessary to make sure that your disputed items get the attention they deserve.
Repairing your history is actually easy with the help of our service. Once we have all of the information from your credit reports entered in our database, you can select which items you want us to contest. Then we'll take those items before the major credit bureaus?Equifax, TransUnion and Experian?for reinvestigation. The credit bureaus then have about a month to investigate those items, and if they can't be verified they'll be deleted from your Beacon Score. Once we get your next credit report and update your database, the process starts all over again with fewer negative entries on your credit report each time.
In addition to our regular services mentioned above, Lexington Law also offers Concord services including Concord Standard and Premier. The Concord Standard service has all of the features of the normal service, but also offers extras like Debt Validation, Account Investigations, and Goodwill Interventions which can bypass the credit reporting bureaus to counteract the negative entries on your credit report at the source. The Concord Premier plan has all of the features of the regular service and Concord Standard, but with the addition of tools designed to go above and beyond the deletion of negative items in order to improve your credit score in other ways. For example, InquiryAssist will work to remove the harmful extra inquiries that potential lenders and some employers make in order to learn more about you. ReportWatch will track changes to your credit report in order to help you catch erroneous entries as soon as they happen. You'll also receive a monthly credit score analysis and insurance against identity theft with the Concord Premier plan.
Of course, you might be wondering how you can afford all of this if your credit is less than perfect. The truth is that while Lexington Law's services are not free, they are less than an average health insurance or cable bill, and when you look at what a low credit score can cost you in terms of higher interest rates and lost opportunities, you can't afford not to take advantage of our services.
Both William Blake & J Hall are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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