Consumer Credit Reports – equifax experian score

Delia Galley asked:




The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the Nationwide Consumer Reporting organizations (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) to provide you with one free credit report every 12 months per your request. This means that you are entitled to three free credit reports per year, if you deem it necessary. You can stagger the requests or order all of them at the same time.

Each of the National Consumer Credit Reporting bureaus have a unique credit report format, but in essence they provide you with the same information. When you receive your free Equifax credit report use the following guidelines to read your report:

Personal Information

This section will detail your personal information: Name, Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, any former names, death notice information, current address, previous addresses, any other identification numbers that you may have, current employer and previous employers.

You will also find information about any fraud alerts that you may have against your credit report.

Account Information Summary

You’ll find a list of all your accounts here. Additional information will include account type, account number, date account was opened, account balance, any past due amount, account status and credit limit.

Inquiries

Any inquiries against your credit file will be listed in this section. This section is divided into two subcategories: (a) Inquiries that display to companies and may impact your credit score. (b) Inquiries that do not display to companies and do not impact your credit score.

“Inquiries that display to companies and may impact your credit score”
These are inquiries by potential creditors who are assessing whether to extend you a line of credit or not. Your credit score will be minimally affected and therefore these inquiries should not be of major concern, unless there are some red flags. The name of the company that requested the information and the date they requested it will be listed.

“Inquiries that do not display to companies and do not impact your credit score”
Unlike the previous inquiries – these do not “hurt” your credit score. They include inquiries for pre-approved credit lines, insurance, or account reviews by existing creditors. The name of the company that requested the information, the date they requested it and the type of inquiry will be listed.

Collections

Any accounts that have gone to collections will be listed here along with the name of the creditor, date reported, creditor type, your account number, original amount, dates of delinquency, outstanding balance and status information.

Public Records

Bankruptcies, liens or judgments information from federal, state or county court records will be listed here. Each public record will indicate the type of record, case number, amount in default and any relevant information associated with that particular case.

You may also find the following credit report terms helpful:
CURR ACCT – Account is current in payments and in good standing.

CUR WAS 30-2 – Account is current was 30 days late twice.

PAID – Account has been paid off and has a $0 balance and is inactive.

CHARGEOFF – Unpaid balance on account was reported as a loss by creditor and the creditor is no longer seeking reimbursement.

COLLECT – Account is severely delinquent and assigned to collections.

FORECLOS – Property was foreclosed.

BKLIQREQ – Debt was forgiven due to Chapter 7, 11 or 13.

DELINQ 60 – Account is 60 days delinquent.

INACTIVE – Account is inactive.

Sample Equifax credit report


Dorothy

Hyder Khan asked:




If you’re being turned down for credit left and right by every mortgage broker, credit card company, and landlord, or you’re not even able to refinance your own house, that is an indication that you have some negative items on your credit report that are scaring away lenders. You have two choices: You can either walk away and decide to wait out the next seven years until those negative items drop off your credit report, or you can take control over the situation and learn how to delete negative items from your credit report.

You may have seen those advertisements where those law firms or credit counseling companies promise to fix your credit, raise your FICO score, and get you a fresh start. How do you delete negative items from your credit report? The answer is based on a law passed by Congress in the latter half of the twentieth century known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This law was passed to protect consumer’s rights to access their credit report and play an active role in ensuring that it does not contain any inaccuracies or misrepresentations of your true credit profile.

If you have derogatory information contained in any of the credit reports issued by the “big three” credit bureau, you simply need to write a letter to each respective creditor disputing the accuracy of that particular entry in your credit report. By law, then the bureau must contact the creditor to verify that specific item that is in dispute. And here is where the law works in your favor: If the bureau is unable to verify the accuracy of the information within 30 days, they are required to delete that item from your credit report altogether!

Here is an example of how you would do this: Let’s say that you were late for your mortgage payment in May of last year, you simply write a letter to the credit bureau that is reporting that late payment, detailing that entry, and including your name, address, and social security number, in which you state that in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are disputing such and such entry as you believe it may be inaccurate. And in this letter, you must state that, in accordance with the Act, if the agency does not verify this information within 30 days, then they are required to delete the information from your credit report.

Now what if the bureau is able to contact the creditor and verify the information within the 30-day timeframe? Well, then the information stays on your credit report. What if the creditor is a little slow but gets back to the bureau within 45 days? Then yes, even though the bureau deleted the item after 30 days, the information can be added back in the subsequent month. But through patience and persistence, if you follow this method, you will eventually be able to improve your credit score. There is no 100% guarantee, however, which is why shouldn’t pay anyone to fix your credit for you, unless they offer a money back-guarantee if your credit score doesn’t improve within a specific period of time.

A couple of bits of advice: Write one separate letter to each bureau for each disputed item. For example, if you have five derogatory items on your report, that were reported to all three bureaus, then you should write fifteen letters. This way you can track the progress of each dispute, plus it guarantees that the credit agency will pay individual attention to each one. Give them more paperwork to process and they will be that much more backlogged to meet their thirty-day deadline.

And one final bit of advice: The Fair Credit Reporting Act also allows the bureaus to disregard your dispute if it s frivolous in nature. In other words, if you do something to cause them to suspect that you are just filing disputes that you know are more than likely to be accurate, just for the sake of flooding them with requests, then they can disregard your inquiry and not take it seriously. Therefore, be careful not to do things like repeatedly dispute the same item over and over again if it keeps on getting verified. The law was passed to protect the legitimate needs of consumers against credit fraud or data entry errors.

Ruby

tairi45c06 asked:

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Debra

johnmilligan4 asked:

www.GetWealthyWithJohn.com John Milligan credit repair counseling (credit repair counseling) credit repair counseling creditrepaircounseling support at http 1. Fast Credit Repair FoxSymes.com.au As seen on ACA. Fix bad credit & eliminate debts. Free consultation Search Results Results include your SearchWiki notes for credit repair counseling. Share these notes Copy and paste this link into an email or IM See a preview of the shared page 1. Spotting Credit Repair, Counseling Scams – The Early Show – CBS News 7 Feb 2008 … The Early Show: Spotting Credit Repair, Counseling Scams – Ray Martin On How To Avoid Getting Taken When Seeking Help. www.cbsnews.com – Cached – Similar – 2. Free Credit Reports Credit Repair Counseling Increase Your Credit … 12 Oct 2009 … Credit information on free credit reports you can use in credit repair. Understand consumer credit counseling and debt consolidation credit … www.creditinfocenter.com – Cached – Similar – 3. CreditRepairCounseling.com – Credit Report Repair Services Debt … We average repairing 10 negative items from consumer credit reports in 90 days! Information, advice and professional debt relief and consumer credit repair … www.creditrepaircounseling.com – Cached – Similar – 4. Credit Repair: Consumer credit counseling for credit solutions Get consumer credit counseling service for credit repair and find credit solutions to your problems. Let the community guide you on how to fix bad credit. www.creditmagic.org – Cached …

Suzanne

Frank Bruno asked:




Different companies have different criteria for evaluating good credit. An employer, for example, might consider having zero credit cards as good credit. A credit card company might consider having credit cards that are spent to the limit as good credit, as long as the payment history is perfect. A mortgage company, on the other hand, does not consider maxed credit cards as favorable.

How does mortgage credit differ from other types of credit?

You might hear about the conventional wisdom of good credit. For example, it’s good credit when you have paid off your credit cards in full. Don’t carry a balance on your credit cards. Close credit card accounts when you don’t need them anymore.

While this is good, solid advice for debt management and control, if you’re trying to get a mortgage, it can work against you.

When mortgage companies evaluate applications, they like to see consistency. If you have a credit card, mortgage lenders want to see at least 24-36 months of perfect payment history on it; that is, 24-36 months with no breaks in between. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to pay your credit card off every month, you might want to rethink this strategy if a mortgage is in your future.

If you allow a paid-off credit card to remain that way for at least 2 straight months, your credit report will show a break in your payment history. Over the past 12 months, it might look something like this on your credit report:

CCCC CC CCCC

Mortgage lenders want to see this on your report:

CCCCCCCCCCCC

If you already have perfect credit with high scores, this isn’t much of an issue. However, if your scores are lower, or if you’re trying to rebuild credit, it is very highly recommended that you maintain a consistent payment history with no breaks. How can you do this without getting yourself into a mess of debt? You can put an inexpensive magazine subscription on your credit card, for example. That way, you never need to carry the card around, and it’s automatically charged for your subscription amount. Just make sure that you pay it off every month on time.

Conventional wisdom tells you to keep a zero, or almost zero, balance on your card. When it comes to mortgage lending, however, it is a dangerous trap. If you have a very low balance on a card, mortgage lenders will look at the “potential” of you maxing out that card. If you were to do that, your debt ratio will increase, and you could default on your loan. The higher your credit limit, the more this becomes an issue. A $300 credit card with a $20 balance won’t matter as much as a $3000 credit card with a $200 balance. In the latter scenario, you have the potential to add $2800 to your current debt load.

Generally, lenders like to see around 25% to 50% of your credit line used up. That way, it lessens the hit on your debt ratio if you were to max the card out. While this criterion by itself might not be enough to approve or deny you, it is definitely a factor worth considering.

If you have no balances on your cards, why not close the account? Then the low balance issue is moot, right? Unfortunately, closing accounts will lower your credit score. As well, lenders like to see at least 3-6 revolving accounts on your credit, and at least 1-2 installment loans. If you have too many revolving accounts with no balances, then you might want to close some. But if you’re in that 3-6 range, keep them open.

Obtain a copy of your credit report and see how your credit history reads. Make sure there aren’t any breaks in your history, especially if you’re a borderline applicant. Even if you do have a break, a high credit score will offset any penalties your potential lender might invoke. Keep the score as high as you can, and keep your credit history consistent.

Clyde

Kelly asked:


I’m wondering about something. When applying for jobs, I’m seeing this come up alot. What does it mean?

” An investigative consumer report will be obtained for employment purposes, and it may include information about your character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living. We may/will request an investigation regarding your credit history, motor vehicle driving record, criminal and civil records, prior employment (including contacting prior employers), education as well as other public record information from Pre-Employ.”

Katherine

Ken Marlborough asked:




Of the many consumer rights under several different categories, the consumer credit protection act is one of the most powerful privileges you have. It is the most useful tool in your war against credit errors and debt dealings. When used, you can resolve nearly all credit and debt difficulties.

The Consumer Credit Act regulates consumer credit that has contributed much in attaining America’s present financial status. In the U.S, you can purchase anything you want, provided you agree to repay the loan amount with interest. Among the households that hold balances on credit cards, the average amount kept is approximately 2,000 dollars. The amount does not include the added financial burdens of mortgages, rents and car loans. Economists find that Americans owe around 2 trillion dollars in credit card and other debts.

The act’s protections are applicable to contracts between traders and individuals, individual traders, partnerships, and unincorporated organizations. But it does not apply to accords between traders and business bodies such as limited companies. The act has made lots of major changes, including the introduction of rules on credit advertising, the form and content of agreements, the way of computing the APR (annual percentage rate) of the total charge for credit, the extortionate credit bargains, and the formalities to be made in the event of default, termination, or early settlement.

The objective of the Consumer Credit Act is to protect consumers from possible exceptionable practices. It also guards them from ineptitude on the part of those who give credit on a commercial or professional basis. Many consumers make mistakes and are ignorant of what privileges they have to ensure that those mistakes are corrected. The consumer credit laws are little good if you don’t employ them. The laws require that each dealer who makes regulated contracts should hold a license given by the office of fair trading. Debt advisors, credit brokers, and others are also needed to keep licenses.

Nicole

Thomas Morva asked:




The fair credit-reporting act makes it mandatory for the three organizations (Equifax, Trans Union and Experian) to submit a credit report at least once a year to anyone who requests for the same. Typing ?annual credit report? in a search engine, which provides credit reports online and at free of cost, can give access to the appropriate online site.

A free government credit report is also available by phone or by mail and reaches the concerned person within fifteen days of requesting. The government agency that provides free credit reports is located in Atlanta (Georgia) and can be contacted via mail or telephone.

The prerequisites that are required for obtaining a free credit report are ? the person?s name, address, social security number, and date of birth. There are some other ?imposter? credit reporting companies that try to mimic the actual agency?s website by deliberately misspelling it. This is a common tactic used by companies who try to extract money from unsuspecting credit report mongers.

Under the federal law, a person is permitted to obtain a free credit report if a company takes unfavorable action against him, such as rejecting his application for credit, insurance, or employment then the person can demand a free credit report within sixty days of receiving the notice. The notice will give the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting company. A person is also entitled to one free report a year if he is unemployed and plans to search for a job within 60 days if he is on welfare or if his report is inaccurate as a result of swindling, including identity theft.

A credit report can make or break a company or a person because all the financial data and history of the report holder is clearly mentioned in this report. The most important fact to be noted about a credit report is that any negative comment or remark on the report will literally leave an indelible mark on the person?s financial record. This is because a bad credit remark is not removed from a credit report for at least ten years.

Jessica

aj asked:


People looking for Jobs vs Jobs Available, shows horrifying statistics. There are not that many jobs left for people to apply. Which makes job market extremely scarce. And for every 1 job, there are at least 7 to 8 applicants.

And you have to be super-human to get an ordinary job only — i.e. 3.8 GPA with straight A’s in all university courses. And even then you are declined job.

What happens to others like me, who have no more education then a bachelor degree in mathematics? This drives people to go into loan defaults and unpaid bills which lead to more economic crisis. Consumer bankruptcies go higher and higher (already more than 1 million chapter 7 bankruptcies filed this year).

The credit report is looked at more, than the person’s skill or qualifications. Credit reports are given importance of God, which makes matters only worse. A lot of problems of the job market are also linked to the heavy emphasis given to credit reports, which have no connection to the applicant’s work ability or skill.

Yet people say unemployment is only 10% so thats low. But if you lose your job or are looking for work, you will realize how extremely tough it is to find work.
i live in michigan and i gave up looking for work several months back.

Alex

Vanessa Doguiles asked:




If you’ve ever had your wallet stolen or lost, you understand the trickle of fear that such a discovery produces. Most consumers realize that it’s imperative to call the bank and credit card issuers immediately in order to close those accounts and avoid fraudulent charges. Unfortunately, a great majority of individuals don’t realize that their credit history and rating may be at risk every day.

Unless consumers take extra care to protect themselves, online credit card and identity theft provides criminals with an insidious and sometimes invisible method of draining a bank account, racking up charges to the limit on a credit card or invading your personal privacy and security that often goes undetected for weeks, and sometimes months.

These days, online purchasing is a way of life, as is bill paying over the Internet. However, Internet fraud is limited to roughly 10% of all fraud cases. Nevertheless, while some of us check or bank accounts and credit card statements daily, or at least weekly, the vast majority don’t log onto their Internet accounts until it’s time to pay those bills. In as little as a day, a thief can rack up your credit card balance or make dozens of purchases from a credit card account without you being the wiser.

Take steps to prevent identify theft before it occurs. Identity theft is often described as either the basic form of identity theft or credit hijacking. Basic identity theft involves the “traditional” form of identity theft where an individual steals biographical information to open new credit accounts. Credit hijacking is a type of identity theft where an individual gains access to and uses existing credit accounts for fraud.

To protect your financial security, follow these basic steps:

o Place an initial fraud alert on the three major credit reports (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax).
o Give your creditors the same telephone number that’s listed on your consumer credit report. (Creditor’s are prevented from opening or approving new credit lines until after verbal verification by you).
o Extend the time frame for the initial fraud alert (90 days) to extend up to seven years by writing a letter to each credit bureau requesting such, and mailing to the address specified in the confirmation letter you receive from the initial fraud alert.
o Create a personal security code for all credit card and bank accounts. This password or code is in addition to your private PIN number, mother’s maiden name, zip code, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. The private security code is yours alone and may be considered a supplementary pass code to ensure that no one is able to access your accounts without mentioning this code.

While taking these steps may take a little of your time, it’s more than worth the benefits and added security you will enjoy. Don’t wait until you have become a victim of identity theft or credit hijacking to protect your financial security.

Herbert