Applying For Credit

Free credit reports are more important now than they have been for some time. Credit is tight and unless you have a real good credit rating, you will probably not be able to get a loan. By checking your credit report, you can improve your chances of being approved for a mortgage or loan for that new car you want. How will a free credit report help? You may find items that give you a lower rating that are in error. If you find errors on your report, there are ways of getting them corrected.

Free credit reports will show how you have performed on previous loans you may have had. This report is vital to a firm that is considering you for a loan. You can check those to make sure they are accurate.

There area three credit reporting agencies that report your credit history. If you apply for a loan, credit card or mortgage to buy property, these agencies will be contacted by the potential lender to get your credit history. In 2004, a federal law was passed making it possible for everyone to get a free credit report. You are permitted to get a free credit report once every twelve months. You must request this yourself. If you act wisely, you can request a free credit report from each of them. If you request one report from one of them every four months, you could get three reports a year. Those agencies are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

To request your free credit report you must do so through a centralized source. Contacting any of the three for a report will not guarantee it will be free. You can go online to www.annualcreditreport.com and request it or call 877-322-8228 to make the request. If you get a copy of the Annual Credit Report Request brochure, you can complete the form on the back and mail it to get your report. The important thing to remember that to get your free credit report, you must request it yourself and use one of the methods listed here.

Once you get your report, you can prepare more adequately to apply for the loan. If you find items that are in error, you can take steps to get them removed. You may find there was a lien put against you several years ago and it was resolved but has not been removed.

You can get this corrected. You may have some negative items in your report that you cannot get removed. By looking at your report, you will know what the lending institution will be looking at and have the opportunity to explain what caused the problem and this might help improve your chances of getting the loan.