Consumer Credit Reports – equifax experian score

Steve Austin asked:




A consumer credit report is a factual record of an individual’s credit payment history. It is provided for a purpose permitted by law: to help a credit grantor or lender quickly and objectively decide whether to grant you credit. Most of the information in consumer credit reports comes directly from the companies a person does business with, but some information also comes from public records.

Credit reporting can be helpful in extreme cases, but it is often misrepresented by collection agencies trying to sell their services. When a collection agency reports a delinquent account to a credit bureau, it does not get the business any money today. What is does is provides a ‘wish’ for a payment some unknown time in the future if the debtor ever has to do a financial transaction that involves a creditor that checks their consumer credit report.

The issue is that credit reporting also can create a liability for businesses because of collection agencies reporting accounts that were not valid debts. This can open the business to legal action – something no businesses needs. It has been esitmated that over 41% of the information contained in consumer credit reports is not accurate, and with identity theft on the rise, a business must tread lightly when considering credit reporting.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates the activities of credit reporting agencies. A credit reporting agency under this law means any person or business which assembles or evaluates consumer credit information for the purpose of providing consumer credit reports to third parties.

According to consumer credit report laws, here are some items that cannot be mentioned in consumer credit reports:

A discharge or final order in Bankruptcy Court dated more than 10 years prior to the date of the consumer credit report.
Lawsuits and judgments entered more than 7 years prior to the date of the consumer credit report.

Paid tax liens which, from the date of payment, precede the report by more than 7 years.

Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss by the creditor that are dated more than 7 years before the credit report.

Records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime that, from date of disposition, release, or parole, precede the report by more than 7 years.
Any other adverse information that precedes the report by more than 7 years.

Default information concerning U.S. Government insured or guaranteed student loans can be reported for 7 years after actions to collect the debt have been taken against certain guarantors.

There are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, Trans Union. Federal law specifies how long negative information can remains on a person’s credit report. This includes late payments, accounts that the credit grantor turned over to a collection agency and judgments filed against a person in court – even if later the account was paid.

““““““““““““““““““““““““““

Contacting The Credit Bureaus

Equifax

Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc

P.O. Box 740241

Atlanta, GA 30374

To order report: 1-800-685-1111

To report fraud: 1-800-525-6285

Web site: http://www.equifax.com

Experian (formerly TRW)

National Consumer Assistance Center

PO Box 2002

Allen, TX 75013

To order report: 1-888-397-3742

To report fraud: 1-888-397-3742

Web site: http://www.experian.com

TransUnion LLC

Consumer Disclosure Center

P.O. Box 1000

Chester, PA 19022

To order report: 1-800-888-4213

To report fraud: 1-800-916-8800

Web site: http://www.transunion.com

Grace

Albie DiBenedetto asked:




Reviewing your credit report may have confirmed your fears. Although you can’t erase all of the bad information, there are some steps you can take to make the situation better.

1. Correct any errors on your report: It’s common to find that there is incorrect information in your credit report. You have the legal right to dispute and correct this information, and you should. You can send a written dispute to each credit reporting agency that has reported inaccurate information. By law, they must investigate the entry, correct any mistakes, and respond to you within 30 days. Afterward, you should obtain another copy of your credit report to confirm the corrections. Then, you should also send the results of the investigation to the other credit reporting agencies.

2. Get help from your creditors: Filing a dispute with the credit reporting agency can delete unverified information about debt, but not if the creditor insists that you owe them money and verifies that fact with the agency. Now, you have to convince your creditor that there is an error. Supply whatever proof you may have to your creditor. If it’s insufficient, then you may have to agree to pay part or all of the debt, immediately or in installments. If so, be sure to get written confirmation of the agreement, and that the negative information will be deleted. Find out if the creditor will contact the agency to make the correction, or if they will just not verify the information when contacted by the agency.

3. Remove student loan defaults: If student loan defaults are hurting your credit, take steps to remove them. If you qualify for certain loan discharges, then the fact that you were ever in default of a student loan can be deleted from your record. You can also rehabilitate or consolidate a defaulted student loan so that you’re no longer delinquent. For more information about resolving defaulted student loans, visit the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at http://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org. The US Department of Education also has some helpful online resources at http://www.ed.gov.

4. Clean up public record information: Information in your public record can sometimes be the most damaging. This includes arrests, convictions, judgments, foreclosures, tax takings, and liens. The best way to remove such information is to start at the source – with the government agency providing the information to the credit bureau. For instance, you might come to an agreement with your creditor to remove a default judgment against you if you enter into a repayment plan. The court will remove the default, you can dispute the information in your report, and the credit bureau will have to remove it.

5. Delete old information: Most bad information has to be removed from your report after a certain number of years.

After 7 years

• Accounts sent for collection or charged off.
• Lawsuits and judgments.
• Paid tax liens.
• Most criminal records.

After 10 years

• Bankruptcies.

Forever (may be reported indefinitely)

• Criminal convictions.
• Positive information.

6. Explain damaging information: You can send a statement to the credit bureaus explaining damaging items. Now, they are not required to include the statement in your report, but they might agree to do so. For example, if you were sick and unable to work, and your creditor agreed to postpone your payments, then the bureau must include a statement as such. Keep your statement short. You can also explain your delinquency to your lender directly. Federal law requires that creditors at least consider your explanation.

7. Avoid overreacting to threats: Creditors may threaten to report negative information to the credit bureaus, but this is just meant to pressure you to pay. In reality, that information is automatically reported every month no matter what. If the threat is coming from a collection agency, the threat is even less likely to make a difference. That information is also automatic. Furthermore, these threats are probably illegal under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You can sue the collection agency under that statute. This law does not apply if a creditor itself is making the threats.

8. Avoid credit repair agencies: Avoid companies that promise to fix your credit report for a fee. These agencies usually cannot deliver on their promises. You can do a better job yourself by following the tips above, and finding other resources to help you.

Rafael

Jon Living asked:




Credit education plays an important role in your life that will affect the purchases you make and much more. The more credit educated you get the more insight you will have about credit; the easier it is to strengthen your credit score. For more than a decade consumer credit education has enhanced many America’s financial well being, by helping them grow and obtain their financial goals.

There are three credit reporting agencies in the United States: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. A credit reporting agency gathers financial information from various creditors and supplies a FICO score that is calculated by a mathematical formula, it also provides data on individual consumers spending habits and financial security. Each consumer FICO reporting agency has its own formulas for calculating credit scores.

Companies such as lenders and creditors that supply your credit information to consumer reporting agencies have to follow specific FICO reporting rules and laws that protect you the consumer, as listed under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. The act stipulates who can obtain a copy of your credit report and in what circumstances, it also stipulated how a credit lender can lend.

Your personal consumer FICO report contains details about your financial behavior and identification information. The three FICO reporting agencies collect and organize data about your credit history from your creditor’s and public records. They make your FICO reports available to current and prospective creditors, employers and others as permitted and regulated by the law, which may speed up your ability to get credit. Getting a copy of your FICO report makes it easy for you to understand what lenders see when they obtained a copy of your FICO history.

The most important part in basic consumer credit education is to understand that creditors forward information to the credit reporting agencies monthly, the day of the month that each individual creditor sends updates varies. This is why it’s important to have access to your credit report every day; you need to arm yourself with the basics of consumer credit reporting education and how it can benefit your financial credibility.

Your FICO report represents a history of your credit accounts and financial credibility, that history begins with the original account and its payment history. If an account is sent to a collection agency, the account continues with that agency that then owns the account until they collect the debt or sell it. The original account will show that it became late on a certain date, eventually was charged off after one hundred and twenty days of delinquency, eventually charged off and considered as a loss and then was sold or sent to a collection agency. The status of the account entry will change through its life on your FICO report. The most important thing when trying to understand your credit is credit education and how enhancing it can help your credit and ability to secure your financial freedom.

Vicki

Hector Milla asked:




The federal government is currently offering all consumers the option of obtaining a free credit report once every year. This free credit report allows consumers the chance to become aware of their credit history, possible identity thefts, and areas to improve in, once every twelve months. While this is a great resource for all consumers, many will find that viewing only one credit report per year does not give consumers ample information to stay up-to-date on their financial standing.

Three Reasons Why Receiving One Credit Report A Year Is Simply Not Enough:

1. While receiving one free credit report a year is better than never viewing one’s report at all, it is almost impossible to improve one’s financial standing without viewing more than one credit report per year. Most people should consider using this free report as a starting point in repairing their financial history. Even those that have a good score may still benefit from making a few simple changes. This free report may be used to view any negative aspects in one’s financial history, whether those may be a debt in collections or credit cards that are nearing their limit. Once the negative factors influencing one’s score has been determined, one can then begin to work towards fixing any imperfections.

2. A person that regularly checks their report is at a much reduced risk of becoming a victim of identity theft. While those that regularly check their credit report may also become victims of identity theft, they are at a much greater advantage of catching a theft early and rectifying the situation before it spirals out of control. A great deal of damage can be done to one’s financial standing within the span of a year. In fact, someone that has a good score can easily find themselves with several fraudulent credit cards and/or loans that total thousands of dollars. However, someone that frequently checks their report will be able to spot a fraudulent debt and notify the proper authorities before their situation becomes dire.

3. People that frequently check their report tend to be more financially responsible. In terms of financial standing, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance, many times, leads to one not being aware of how their debts, occasional late payments, and credit cards are truly affecting their financial history and credibility. As most people would agree, it is much easier to be aware of one’s standing and make efforts to improve their score over time, than to find yourself in a difficult situation when attempting to obtain a home or other important loan.

Arnold