Credit Report Common Sense

Whenever you apply for any type of credit, be it a car or home loan, or a credit card, your credit report is pulled by the company to which you are applying. Before making any sort of large purchase, you are going to want to check your credit report to see how it looks and to be sure that everything that should be cleaned up is, this way you stand a better chance of being approved for that loan, and possibly approved at a lower interest rate.

This is also a good way to know where you stand financially and to be sure that there is no fraudulent activity on your account as well.  There is a new federal law that states that everyone is entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the big credit reporting agencies – Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian – and these are the credit agencies that your lender will be checking as well. 

Go over your credit report once you have received it to be sure that everything is as it should be, and take the time to clean up any outstanding items that appear. You can report any items that need to be cleared up directly to each of  the credit agencies, and they will work with you to clean up your record. ■

For more information on your rights surrounding your credit report: