Articles About Credit Reports

Checking Your Credit Report is a Big Deal

With every major and sometimes minor transaction hinging on your credit report, the days of not really worrying about what’s on it are over! Your credit can potentially tell an employer if you’re responsible and worth hiring or not. And while some employers don’t place the same amount of importance on credit reports, they still check it. Why take the chance of having a mistake on it? It’s smart to review your free credit report every 4 months (free from each of the agencies). That way, you can check throughout the year and spot problems.

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Recovery at risk as jobs and housing stumble

Manufacturing is also showing signs of developing cracks

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Your Credit Rights Key Rights Contained in the Fai

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates how credit reporting agencies use your information. Enacted in 1970 and substantially amended in the late 1990s and again in 2003, the FCRA restricts who has access to your sensitive credit information and how that information can be used.

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Credit Score More Important Than Ever

WASHINGTON -- With the resurgence of tighter underwriting standards, some mortgage-market observers have been predicting that lenders would once again rely more on a borrower's overall worthiness and less on credit scores.

Lenders are giving more credence to each of the so-called Five Cs -- character, capacity, collateral, capital and credit. But your credit score, which is a numerical snapshot of your credit history at a single point in time, is still paramount, said David Chung, managing director of Credit- Xpert, a Towson, Md., firm that sells credit-management tools to lenders.

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Credit Reports: How Do You Look to Lenders?

Your credit reports (you have three of them, minimum) create your financial image in the mind of a lender. Any lender, from car dealership to mortgage banker, is going to “pull” your credit reports looking closely at your fiscal activity. And these reports are jam-packed with the most personal information you can imagine.

Using mathematical formulas, credit reporting agencies calculate a “credit score,” sometimes called your FICO score. Credit scores indicate your credit worthiness at a glance. Tops is a score of 850. Bill Gates may be the only person with an 850 credit score. The lowest is 300, for those individuals who have been less than careful about meeting their credit obligations.

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How do I order my free report?

You can order your free annual credit report online at annualcreditreport.com, by calling 1-877-322-8228, or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

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