The Best Way To Understand Six Sections of a Credit Report

How to Understand Credit Report

The best way to understand a Credit report is to explore each section of credit report and understand nitty gritty of each section. In nutshell Credit report is a summary of consumer information on an individual person. The three credit reporting agencies namely Experian, TeansUnion and Equifax are in the business of accumulating consumer information on persons over the age of 14. Credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian and Equifax) create profiles of individuals and keep updating their credit profiles to keep up to date. Below article gives full information on "How to Understand six section of a Credit Report".

Now the question is how they keep tab on every persons credit profile. Every country has their own way of identifying their citizens. In America we have Social Security Number. This is unique number given to each person at the time of birth or for an immigrant on getting legal visa to work in America. Under this unique ID person can apply for bank account, credit card, rent apartment or open business etc. Each time person uses social security number to open the accounts be it at banks, credit cards, retail or apply for loan, mortgage loan the information is captured by each of these credit bureaus and updated against person's credit profile.



This collective consumer data becomes valuable for creditors, bankers, lenders, landlords and employers to judge on your credit trustworthiness. How you deal in your credit dealings with lenders, business, and financial institutions and how you manage your retail, utility accounts is also captured and updated on your credit profile. It becomes very important on part of a consumer to manage responsibly credit and ensure that there are no negative remarks on credit profile. Any negative remarks on your credit profile will derive out lenders and creditors and you will miss out on low interest rate offers on loans and credit cards. If credit profile is severally damaged then you will even have difficulty in getting a apartment to rent or simple debit or credit account get opened. Thus understanding Credit report becomes very important for a consumer.

For credit Bureaus to record your consumer information in a meaningful way. They have divided credit report into major six sections. Together a score evaluated on information present in these six sections derives a credit score, which gives lenders and creditors an opportunity to offer you with credit offers. The six sections making a credit report are given below:

The Credit Report sections are:

• 1. Personal Information
• 2. Summary of Accounts
• 3. Account History
• 4. Public Information
• 5. Inquiries
• 6. Creditor Contacts

Personal Loans Up To 35,000

Personal Information Section in a Credit Report

Personal Section

Personal Information

This section provides information on your personal details. None of this information is used to evaluate your credit worthiness. No information from this section is used in evaluating your credit score. This section purely identifies you and provides your identity.

Let’s say you have account with any of three bureau and you need to get report or login to their website. In case you don’t have secure password to login they will ask for personal details to verify your identity. Hence having your personal information correct in each of the bureau is very important.

The details of Personal section are as follows:

• 1. Name, 2. Date Of Birth, 3. Current Address, 4. Previous Address, 5. Employer Details

Account summary section in a Credit Report

This is most important section of your credit report. Under this section a list of your accounts are shown with drill down details on how many are open, closed, and delinquent. Under this section also is reported your balance on each account, how much payment you make to each account. Any negative remarks, your public records are also listed here. All this information is captured under nine categories under this section.

Nine categories under your Summary section in Credit Report

• 1. Total Accounts, 2. Open Accounts, 3. Closed Accounts, 4. Delinquent, 5. Derogatory, 6. Balances, 7. Payments, 8. Public Records, 9. Inquires

Definitions of above nine categories.

Category name Description

Total Accounts: Lists total accounts including open and closed.

Open Accounts: Under this category all opened accounts are listed.

Closed Accounts: Under this category all closed accounts are listed. Please note even if you close account they still remain for a specified amount of time on your credit reprot.

Delinquent: Under this category all accounts are listed which are past due (you fail to pay on time)

Derogatory: Under this category all accounts which are negatively impacted because of lenders reporting either on past due payments or foreclosure, bankruptcies etc.

Balances: Under this section amount you owe to lenders is listed.

Payments: Under this category the payments you are making to each account are listed.

Public Records: Under this section all your public record information is listed. Your public record information such as mortgage information, court records, county records etc.

Inquires Under this section inquires made by lenders and creditors are listed. Please note there are two types of inquires which are hard and soft. Soft inquires do not make any impact on your credit score . But hard inquires do make impact on your Credit Score. The inquiry's made by lenders to just check on your credit profile are considered as soft inquires. Any inquiry made by lender based on your application is considered as hard inquiry

Account History Section in Credit Report

Account History:Under this section are listed account names and detail history of each account. The major credit accounts reported under five categories. The five categories are as follows:

1. Real estate, 2. Installment, 3. Revolving, 4. Collection, 5. Others

Definitions of above categories

Real Estate: Under this category your first and second mortgage information is recorded. The information such as First and second loan, payment plan, remaining balance, missed payments etc.

Installment Account: Under this category all accounts comprised of fixed terms with regular payments, such as a car, bike boat loans are covered.

Revolving Accounts: Under this category all your credit card accounts with variable payments are covered.

Collection Accounts: Under this category all collection accounts are reported. All accounts which have past due more than 120 days unpaid payments are reported here.

Other Accounts: Under these category miscellaneous details are added. This also covers financial details.

Each account is shown in details. The details which are shown on your credit report are Credit account number, Current balance, Account type, current pay status, payment paying status such as current, 30/60/90/120 late or account in collection. All these details are listed in horizontal line against each account.

Payment Symbols under Account History in Credit Report.

OK :- The "OK" status represents that payment on account was received before the due date.

30 :- The "30" day status represents that payment was not received in 30 days after the due date was passed.

60 :- The "60" day status represents that payment was not received in 60 days after the due date was passed.

90 :- The "90" day status represents that payment was not received in 90 days after the due date was passed.

90 :- 120 The "120" day status represents that payment was not received in 120 days after the due date was passed.

150 :- The "150" day status represents that payment was not received in 150 days after the due date was passed.

PP :- The "PP" status represents that a agreement has been reached between creditors/lenders and borrower for payment plan.

RF :- The "RF" status represents that borrowers account has been turned to foreclosure process.

CO:- The "CO" status represents that either account was given to collection

To get more information on each account click on "more" link to drill down the account details. Once you click on "more" link the information displayed are account balances, limits, dates and shows payment history for last 7 years. Here is what you can expect to see once you click the link.

Past Due: This shows amount of payment which is overdue. In credit report it will show the past due amount.

High Balance: This shows in this account history when did you ever owed higher balance to lender. In case of credit card it will be the higher borrowing limit you ever hit and in case of mortgage it will be always initial borrowing loan.

Terms:

This is applicable to fixed loans such as Car/boat loans or mortgage loans. Usually these loan payments are scheduled based on the number of years loan has been granted by creditors. Like car loans come as 36, 468 or 60 months. Similarly mortgage loans come as 15 year and 30 year term broken by monthly payments.

Limits: This shows how much you can borrow on account. You can't borrow above this amount limit.

Payment: This shows how much you are scheduled to pay on this account. Of course you can always pay your debt fast by making additional payments.

Opened: This shows from when this account is active.

Reported: The most recent activity on this account will be shown.

Responsibility: This shows who is responsible to repay the loan. Information will show either account is under an individual or co-signer.

Late Payments: This will show history of late payments made under different cycles such as 30, 60, 90 etc. Remarks General note on status of account.

Remarks: General note on status of account.

Public information section in a Credit Report

Public Information: Under this section of credit report includes publicly information available on you with county, city, court etc. This will cover judgments awarded against you or in your favor in civil court, state, federal. This will also cover tax liens and bankruptcies. All this legal information will be listed under this section.
Here is what you can expect to be shown under this section.

Bankruptcy: Anytime you had filed for bankruptcy to relive you from financial liability to run a business. This could happen either your business didn't go well or you are simply unable to pay.

Tax Lien: This could be due to not paying taxes for long period of time and then city, state or federal government filing tax lien on your personal or business account.

Legal Item: This is due to legal case judgment against you in a civil action.

Marital Item: This is simple case of divorce related judgment.

Financial Counseling: Many time's people loose control over their spending and fall into the debt trap. When person goes through a financial counseling to reduce the debt or pay in installment, the information is treated as public and recorded in Credit profile.

Financial Statement: When creditors/lenders file lien on a person's property. Usually this happens when creditor’s wants secure the loan by filing the lien on property.

Foreclosure: It is a process in which creditors takeover the property from owner because he has defaulted on account or simply has stopped paying the monthly installments.

Garnishment: This happens when court orders to hold some or all from persons wage to repay the debt owned to Creditors/Lenders.

Inquires Section in a Credit Report

Inquires on your Credit Profile

Inquires made by Creditors/Lenders on your Credit Report

This section of credit report includes inquires made by business, lenders and creditors on your report and data is shown from last two years. Creditors/Lenders always scan peoples credit profile to see which profile suit for their credit offers. When they see person having storing credit profile and less or no debt, they will send credit offers in mail.

Please note there are two type of credit inquires. Hard and Soft inquires.

Hard Inquiry on your Credit Report - When creditors/lenders check on your credit profile based on your credit application it is considered as "Hard Inquiry".
Please note such inquires in large number impact your credit score. When will this happen, you are shopping for car/boat loan or for mortgage. You go to one lender to other lender, each of these lenders are going to access your credit report to check on your credit worthiness. All these inquiries are termed as hard inquiry.

Soft Inquiry on your Credit Report - Not on your credit application but a random check by creditors/lenders is considered as Soft inquiry. These type of inquires do not impact your credit score.

Creditors Contact Section in Credit Report

Creditors Contact Information Under Creditor’s contact section all the lenders, business and bankers name and address will be listed. These are the lenders with whom you have taken the loan or done business in past. You will also see the names of creditors who have made soft or hard inquires on your credit profile.



In this section you will see Creditors name, Address and their Phone numbers. In case you want to contact these lenders for any reason the addresses and phone numbers listed on right side of Creditor’s section should be used for communication.

Incase you liked the article, please share my blog with your choice of network.

What is a Good Credit Score for a School Loan 2015

A good credit score is required for school loan, at least to get low interest rates and low fees associated with it. In case you plan to take loan from private lenders than it becomes more important to have good credit score to be eligible for attractive interest rates.

There are many options to avail student loans. Of course it depends upon your family income and in what tax bracket you file your taxes. In addition to federal, state and private school loans , there are some charities which offer student loan or grants to deserving and need based students.

Now the question is 'how do you qualify for Federal Student Loans' and do they use credit scores to evaluate student loan application? Let's understand what types of Federal programs are available for student loans and what are the required requirements

The student loan program come in many packages some from government and state initiated programs and some from variety of private lenders.

Federal Student Loan Program

There are several types of education loan programs available for which students may be eligible. The Stafford and Perkins loans are federal governed loan programs. These two programs directly give loan to the student. Both Stafford and Perkins loans are funded by government and thus carry low interest rates and have very consumer favorable loan repayment plans. The federal loans are savior for lower middle segment people who otherwise can't afford to send there children to the colleges they want.

Federal Stafford Loan Program: The money for Stafford loan program comes from a federal government program called FDSLP, the acronym stands for Federal Direct Student Loan Program. The Stafford loan to student is provided under two categories, subsidized and unsubsidized. The difference is in the interest rate on loan under each of these subsidized programs and the loan cap they carry.


Subsidized Stafford Loans: The beauty of subsidized Stafford loan program is that you won't make any payments until you graduate. The interest rate on subsidized loan are very low. The government will pay for your interest while you are in school finishing your school term. This type of loan program is reserved for students who can furnish proof for family hardship. The families which earn less than 50k or 60 k usually qualify for this loan program. This loan program doesn't use credit score to evaluate loan application. For more information on Stafford loan program , visit Federal Student Aid.

Unsubsidized Stafford Loans: There are two difference between unsubsidized and subsidized Stafford loan. First the interest rate on the loan is not free while you are in school, actually it gets accumulated into your loan. The loan payments get deferred till you graduate. The interest rates are fixed and current rate is around 6.8%. The unsubsidized Stafford loan program is open to every student regardless of their family economic condition. For more information on Stafford loan program , visit Federal Student Aid.

Federal Perkins Loans

The Perkins loans are available through federally funded loan program. The Perkins loan is low interest loan available to both undergrad and grad students with exceptional financial requirements. Most of the student like Perkins loan program over the Stafford loan program because of its low interest rate and favorable consumer terms. Here is the brief snapshot of Perkins loan program.

Overview of Federal Perkins Loan

• Loan program is available to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students with exceptional financial need.
• The loan program carries low interest rate (5%)
• Important thing to check with you school, if they participate in Federal Perkins loan program
• School act as lender and you will make payments to your school.
• Funds availability is need basis.
• Perkins loans are subsidizes
• The government pays any interest accrued while you’re in school and even you get short grace period after you graduate.
• Perkins loans are popular because of favorable terms
• The cap limit for undergrad is around 30k and for grad is 60k.
• No credit check or credit score evaluation is done for loan application.

For more information on Perkins loan program visit Student Financial Aid.

Federal Plus Loans

The PLUS loans are federal loans that are available to graduate students and to parents of dependent undergraduate students. This is US government program and they make direct loans to eligible borrowers through the participating schools.

• The U.S. Department of Education is the lender.
• The borrower must not have an adverse credit history. so not your credit score but your credit history is important such as any missed payments over 90 days. The other things which matter are bankruptcy discharge, repossession, tax lien, foreclosure, wage garnishment etc.
• The maximum loan amount is the student’s cost of attendance (determined by the school) minus any other financial aid received.
• They have a fixed interest rate of 7.9 percent.

For more information and checklist for Direct Plus Loans, Visit Student Financial Aid

Private Student Loans:

Why do Private Student Loans use Credit Scores? Lenders in business of lending educational loans use credit score to determine the creditworthiness of a loan applicant. The credit score helps lenders understand and determine the risk level each applicant carries and how likely or unlikely he or she will default on a given loan. Now, if you are planning to take loan from a private lenders, then it is important you browse through your credit report and check for any errors it might have. Sometime by removing errors your credit score can jump few points. Additional you can look into the ways to improve your credit score before you actually apply for student loan.

The educational lenders provide loan under various interest rate program. The best loans may comer only 20% of loan applicant with good credit scores. The more lower credit score the more interest rate rises. One can easily conclude that there will be difference of 2 o to 3% interest rate between the low credit score and good credit score loan applicants. It is advisable to check your credit report early on and look for errors and ways to improve your credit score. You don't have to spend money to get your credit report, the Annual Credit Report provides you one free copy of your report for each of three credit bureaus. Visit Annual Credit Report.

Free Credit Resource information

Annual Credit Report website provides free credit report to consumers. This is mandated under federal law that credit bureaus should provide once a year a free copy of credit report to consumers. The three credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and Transunion collectively created Annual Credit Report portal for consumers to access their credit report. Please remember , it is only once you get free credit report. Also you do not get credit score from Annual Credit report for that you have to visit each credit bureau to get your credit score.

Please note to get your free credit report you don't have to pay any charges and beware of any sites charging you for your free credit reports. In case you have exhausted your free option to get credit reports than next option is to visit individual credit bureaus to get your credit report and credit score. Additionally you can get 3 bureau credit report and 3-1 credit score from any of the credit bureaus for a charge.

Credit Bureau Details

• Free Credit Report:- Visit Annual Credit Report


• Equifax Credit Bureau:- Visit Equifax


• Transunion Credit Bureau:- Visit Transunion


• Experian Credit Bureau:- Visit Experian


• MYFICO credit score:- Visit MyFico.com

Related Articles

• How to get Credit Scores
• How to get an Experian Credit Score:
• How to get Transunion credit score:
• How to get Equifax credit score:
• How to get Credit Reports
• How to get Equifax Credit Reports:
• How to get Transunion Credit Reports:
• How to get Experian Credit Reports:

Experian Credit Score: How to get your Experian Credit Score

Experian Credit Score is one of the many scoring models used by businesses in lending money to customers. The Experian credit score is used to evaluate a persons creditworthiness. Your credit score is an indicator of your creditworthiness. The Experian Credit Score is solely based on an Experian Credit Score model and it differs in some ways from other scoring models such as Equifax, TransUnion or FICO scoring model. Although each of these companies use most of the same evaluating parameters such as persons length of credit history, type of credit, revolving account, payment history, etc.

The above stated factors are available in your credit report, lenders and creditors use credit report information to calculate your credit score to get an insight to your creditworthiness. The score evaluation tells them how risky you pose to them , if they do decide to give you credit. The higher credit score you have, the chances of getting good credit at lower interest rate are high. With higher credit score you pose low risk to lenders. Let's first understand what is a Credit Score. 

What is a Experian Credit Score

Now we know why credit score is important and for what purpose it is used by lenders and businesses. The next thing to know is what is the scoring range and at each level of scoring range what it means to a consumer. The credit score range is from 300 to 850 (no-credit to excellent credit).

The Experian Credit Score is based on a proprietary Experian Credit Scoring model and is not the same as scoring model used by other credit bureaus.

This three digit credit number has become an important tool for lenders for credit analysis and for consumers it holds a personal report card. Even though each of three credit company use FICO mathematical scoring model and yet there scores differ from each other. This is due to additional checks and balances are applied to scoring model. You will always see some difference in few points between credit score from three  credit bureaus.

How is Experian Credit Score Calculated

The Experian credit score is calculated based on many factors that provide information on a consumer file. The factors which are used for mathematical calculations are length of credit history, type of credit accounts, Balance on accounts, available credit, payment history, any negative comments on consumer file and how many inquires are there on consumer file. Each of these factors is assigned a numerical value, and then weighted based on how prominently they affect your credit worthiness. More details information on credit score calculation is given below in Credit score table.

How am I responsible for my Credit Score

The credit score you are awarded by credit bureaus is based on your credit actions. How you take credit, how you pay and how you manage your credit. Any of these actions on negative or positive side impact your score and bring your score up or down. You can improve credit score at every level even when you are in good, bad or excellent credit score range. Of course building credit score at low score is multi-step process and time consuming but eventually with meticulous planning you will be able to fix your credit score. Read more on 'How to get your Experian Credit Score' and what factors impact your credit score calculation.

Important Credit Score Questions

Credit Score Questions	Credit Score Answers
What is a Credit Score	A numerical three digit number derived from Credit scoring model based on various factors by using credit report of a consumer.
What is a Credit Score Range	The credit score range of a Credit score is between 300 points to 850 points.
Excellent Credit Score	Credit Score from 720 to 850 - This is the range where everyone's credit score should be to avail low interest loans, good mortgage loan, premium credit cards etc.
Good Credit Score	Credit Sore from 679 to 719 - Although it keeps you out from premium deals but still good to attract lenders for good credit card offers and mortgage loans on reasonable loan rates.
Average Credit Score	Credit Score from 620 to 679 -  It gets harder when you are financing from private lenders, still you may get few deals in this range. Although creditors have designed lending programs for each of the score range and they differ on terms and conditions and the interest they carry.
Bad Credit Score	Credit Score from  up to 579 - If your credit score is below 579, that is not a good news. The financing options become narrow and the ones, which are available come with very high interest rates and penalties. This is the time to religiously look for credit repair help and rebuild your credit score.
No Credit Score	Your consumer file is not opened at credit bureaus. Mostly in the case of children and students.
Experian Credit Bureau	Experian (formerly TRW) Address: P.O. Box 2104 City: Allen, TX 75013-2104 Experian Web Address Phone Number: (888) 397-3742
FICO	The Fair Issac company introduced FICO score in the year 1989. FICO score is used by banks, lenders and business for granting loans and credit to consumers.
Structure of FICO Score	Payment History: 35% : This is the major factor, which impacts your credit score. The Payment history covers information related to many factors Good Factors Payment history without any interruption Payments on multiple account Payment types Bad Factors Late payments Defaults Judgments Settlements Liens Bankruptcies Debt on accounts: 30% : This is about how much and what types of debt balance you carry. The type of debt, balance limits, mode of payments and the amount being paid one ach of these account. Length of Credit history: 15% :This is about how long is your credit history, the scoring model also looks at the accounts you have and how old they are. Inquires: 10% This is about the credit request you make with lenders and the decisions you get from lenders. The request you make at lenders for credit and in turn they make inquiry on your credit history or to check your credit score at credit bureaus is considered as hard inquiry and impacts your credit score.
Credit Scoring Factors	Type of credit accounts you have Number of accounts you have Available credit Balance on your credit accounts Length of your credit history length of payment history Note: Each of these factors carry a numerical number based on scoring evaluation and is used and weighted on credit risk index to evaluate consumers creditworthiness.

How can I check my Experian Credit Score

The checking your credit score on Experian credit website is easy. You can check individual Experian credit score and credit report on Experian official website by enrolling and paying around $20 a month.  The Experian free credit score and report is only for $1, when you sign up for monthly subscription. The trial period is for seven days and thereafter $21.95 is monthly fee for accessing your credit score and Experian credit report. The online access to Experian also comes with other features such as fraud alert, identity theft protection, credit report monitoring etc. The $1 free option is good when you just want to check your credit report and score and are not interested in continuing to a monthly subscription.



Please note the price and the product structure explained in this post may change in future, for more latest pricing, products and  how to get your Experian Credit Score, please visit official Experian website.

TransUnion Credit Score: How to get your TransUnion Credit Score

TransUnion Credit Score is one of the many scoring models used by businesses in lending money to customers. The TransUnion credit score is used to evaluate a persons creditworthiness. Your credit score is an indicator of your creditworthiness. The Transunion Credit Score is solely based on an TransUnion Credit Score model and it differs in some ways from other scoring models such as Transunion, Experian or FICO scoring model. Although each of these companies use most of the same evaluating parameters such as persons length of credit history, type of credit, revolving account, payment history, etc.

The above stated factors are available in your credit report, lenders and creditors use credit report information to calculate your credit score to get an insight to your creditworthiness. The score evaluation tells them how risky you pose to them , if they do decide to give you credit. The higher credit score you have, the chances of getting good credit at lower interest rate are high. With higher credit score you pose low risk to lenders. Let's first understand what is a Credit Score. 

What is a TransUnion Credit Score

Now we know why credit score is important and for what purpose it is used by lenders and businesses. The next thing to know is what is the scoring range and at each level of scoring range what it means to a consumer. The credit score range is from 300 to 850 (no-credit to excellent credit).

The TransUnion Credit Score is based on a proprietary TransUnion Credit Scoring model and is not the same as scoring model used by other credit bureaus.

This three digit credit number has become an important tool for lenders for credit analysis and for consumers it holds a personal report card. Even though each of three credit company use FICO mathematical scoring model and yet there scores differ from each other. This is due to additional checks and balances are applied to scoring model. You will always see some difference in few points between credit score from three  credit bureaus.

How is TransUnion Credit Score Calculated

The TransUnion credit score is calculated based on many factors that provide information on a consumer file. The factors which are used for mathematical calculations are length of credit history, type of credit accounts, Balance on accounts, available credit, payment history, any negative comments on consumer file and how many inquires are there on consumer file. Each of these factors is assigned a numerical value, and then weighted based on how prominently they affect your credit worthiness. More details information on credit score calculation is given below in Credit score table.

How am I responsible for my Credit Score

The credit score you are awarded by credit bureaus is based on your credit actions. How you take credit, how you pay and how you manage your credit. Any of these actions on negative or positive side impact your score and bring your score up or down. You can improve credit score at every level even when you are in good, bad or excellent credit score range. Of course building credit score at low score is multi-step process and time consuming but eventually with meticulous planning you will be able to fix your credit score. Read more on 'How to get your TransUnion Credit Score' and what factors impact your credit score calculation.

Important Credit Score Questions

Credit Score Questions	Credit Score Answers
What is a Credit Score	A numerical three digit number derived from Credit scoring model based on various factors by using credit report of a consumer.
What is a Credit Score Range	The credit score range of a Credit score is between 300 points to 850 points.
Excellent Credit Score	Credit Score from 720 to 850 - This is the range where everyone's credit score should be to avail low interest loans, good mortgage loan, premium credit cards etc.
Good Credit Score	Credit Sore from 679 to 719 - Although it keeps you out from premium deals but still good to attract lenders for good credit card offers and mortgage loans on reasonable loan rates.
Average Credit Score	Credit Score from 620 to 679 -  It gets harder when you are financing from private lenders, still you may get few deals in this range. Although creditors have designed lending programs for each of the score range and they differ on terms and conditions and the interest they carry.
Bad Credit Score	Credit Score from  up to 579 - If your credit score is below 579, that is not a good news. The financing options become narrow and the ones, which are available come with very high interest rates and penalties. This is the time to religiously look for credit repair help and rebuild your credit score.
No Credit Score	Your consumer file is not opened at credit bureaus. Mostly in the case of children and students.
TransUnion Credit Bureau	Trans Union - Consumer Disclosure Center Address: P.O. Box 1000 City: Chester, PA 19022 Trans Union Web Address Contact Number: (800) 916-8800 or (800) 888-4213
FICO	The Fair Issac company introduced FICO score in the year 1989. FICO score is used by banks, lenders and business for granting loans and credit to consumers.
Structure of FICO Score	Payment History: 35% : This is the major factor, which impacts your credit score. The Payment history covers information related to many factors Good Factors Payment history without any interruption Payments on multiple account Payment types Bad Factors Late payments Defaults Judgments Settlements Liens Bankruptcies Debt on accounts: 30% : This is about how much and what types of debt balance you carry. The type of debt, balance limits, mode of payments and the amount being paid one ach of these account. Length of Credit history: 15% :This is about how long is your credit history, the scoring model also looks at the accounts you have and how old they are. Inquires: 10% This is about the credit request you make with lenders and the decisions you get from lenders. The request you make at lenders for credit and in turn they make inquiry on your credit history or to check your credit score at credit bureaus is considered as hard inquiry and impacts your credit score.
Credit Scoring Factors	Type of credit accounts you have Number of accounts you have Available credit Balance on your credit accounts Length of your credit history length of payment history Note: Each of these factors carry a numerical number based on scoring evaluation and is used and weighted on credit risk index to evaluate consumers creditworthiness.

How can I check my TransUnion Credit Score

The checking your credit score on Transunion credit website is easy. You can check individual Transunion credit score or 3-in-1 credit score bundled in one package. The TransUnion free credit score and report is only for $1, when you sign up for monthly subscription. The trial period is for seven days and thereafter $17.99 is monthly fee for accessing your credit score and TransUnion credit report. The online access to TransUnion also comes with other features such as fraud alert, identity theft protection, credit report monitoring etc.

Please note the price and the product structure explained in this post may change in future, for more latest pricing, products and  how to get your TransUnion Credit Score, please visit official TransUnion website.

Equifax Credit Score: How to get your Equifax Credit Score

Equifax Credit Score is one of the many scoring models used by businesses. It is used to evaluate a persons creditworthiness. Your credit score is an indicator of your creditworthiness. The Equifax Credit Score is solely based on an Equifax Credit Score model and it differs in some ways from other scoring models such as Transunion, Experian or FICO scoring model. Although each of these companies use most of the same evaluating parameters such as persons length of credit history, type of credit, revolving account, payment history, etc.

All this information in available in your credit report, lenders and creditors use credit report information to calculate your credit score to get an insight to your creditworthiness. The score evaluation tells them how risky you pose to them , if they do decide to give you credit. The higher credit score you have, the chances of getting good credit at lower interest rate are high. With higher credit score you pose low risk to lenders. Let's first understand what is a Credit Score. 

What is a Equifax Credit Score

Now we know why credit score is important and for what purpose it is used by lenders and businesses. The next thing to know is what is the scoring range and at each level of scoring range what it means to a consumer. The credit score range is from 300 to 850 (no-credit to excellent credit).

The Equifax Credit Score is based on a proprietary Equifax Credit Scoring model and is not the same as scoring model used by other credit bureaus.

This three digit credit number has become an important tool for lenders for credit analysis and for consumers it holds a personal report card. Even though each of three credit company use FICO mathematical scoring model and yet there scores differ from each other. This is due to additional checks and balances are applied to scoring model. You will always see some difference in few points between credit score from other credit bureaus.

How is Equifax Credit Score Calculated

The Equifax credit score is calculated based on many factors that provide information on a consumer file. The factors which are used for mathematical calculations are length of credit history, type of credit accounts, Balance on accounts, available credit, payment history, any negative comments on consumer file and how many inquires are there on consumer file. Each of these factors is assigned a numerical value, and then weighted based on how prominently they affect your credit worthiness. More details information on credit score calculation is given below in Credit score table.

How am I responsible for my Credit Score

The credit score you are awarded by credit bureaus is based on your credit actions. How you take credit, how you pay and how you manage your credit. Any of these actions on negative or positive side impact your score and bring your score up or down. You can improve credit score at every level even when you are in good or excellent credit score range. Of course building credit score at low score is multi-step process and time consuming but eventually with meticulous planning you will fix your credit score. Read more on 'How to get your Equifax Credit Score' and what factors impact your credit score calculation.

Important Credit Score Questions

Credit Score Questions	Credit Score Answers
What is a Credit Score	A numerical three digit number derived from Credit scoring model based on various factors by using credit report of a consumer.
What is a Credit Score Range	The credit score range of a Credit score is between 300 points to 850 points.
Excellent Credit Score	Credit Score from 720 to 850 - This is the range where everyone's credit score should be to avail low interest loans, good mortgage loan, premium credit cards etc.
Good Credit Score	Credit Sore from 679 to 719 - Although it keeps you out from premium deals but still good to attract lenders for good credit card offers and mortgage loans on reasonable loan rates.
Average Credit Score	Credit Score from 620 to 679 -  It gets harder when you are financing from private lenders, still you may get few deals in this range. Although creditors have designed lending programs for each of the score range and they differ on terms and conditions and the interest they carry.
Bad Credit Score	Credit Score from  up to 579 - If your credit score is below 579, that is not a good news. The financing options become narrow and the ones, which are available come with very high interest rates and penalties. This is the time to religiously look for credit repair help and rebuild your credit score.
No Credit Score	Your consumer file is not opened at credit bureaus. Mostly in the case of children and students.
Equifax Credit Bureau	Equifax Contact Information Address: P.O. Box 105873 City: Atlanta, GA 30348 Equifax Web Address Phone Number: (800) 685-1111
FICO	The Fair Issac company introduced FICO score in the year 1989. FICO score is used by banks, lenders and business for granting loans and credit to consumers.
Structure of FICO Score	Payment History: 35% : This is the major factor, which impacts your credit score. The Payment history covers information related to many factors Good Factors Payment history without any interruption Payments on multiple account Payment types Bad Factors Late payments Defaults Judgments Settlements Liens Bankruptcies Debt on accounts: 30% : This is about how much and what types of debt balance you carry. The type of debt, balance limits, mode of payments and the amount being paid one ach of these account. Length of Credit history: 15% :This is about how long is your credit history, the scoring model also looks at the accounts you have and how old they are. Inquires: 10% This is about the credit request you make with lenders and the decisions you get from lenders. The request you make at lenders for credit and in turn they make inquiry on your credit history or to check your credit score at credit bureaus is considered as hard inquiry and impacts your credit score.
Credit Scoring Factors	Type of credit accounts you have Number of accounts you have Available credit Balance on your credit accounts Length of your credit history length of payment history Note: Each of these factors carry a numerical number based on scoring evaluation and is used and weighted on credit risk index to evaluate consumers creditworthiness.

How can I check my Equifax Credit Score

The checking your credit score on Equifax credit website is easy. You can check individual Equifax credit score or 3-in-1 credit score bundled in one package. The Equifax credit report and credit score is for $15.99 where as 3-in-1 bundled credit score and reports is for $39.99.

Please note the price and the product structure explained in this post may change in future, for more latest pricing, products and  how to get your Equifax Credit Score, please visit official Equifax website.

How to get an Equifax Credit Report and Credit Score 

The Equifax credit agency is one of three credit reporting agencies providing credit reports to consumers and selling credit information/credit services to lenders. By Federal law each credit agency is mandated to provide free credit report to consumers once a year. Based on federal law , the three credit bureaus (Transunion, Experian and Equifax) created one company Annual Credit Report to provide free credit reports to consumers.


In case your goal is to get free credit report and you haven't used free credit report option from AnnualCreditReport.com website, please visit Annual Credit Report.

Equifax Credit Report Services and Products

The Equifax company is helping millions of customers with credit report, monitoring and identity theft services. Each service and product comes with different price model. Here is the brief note on each of these services.

• Equifax Credit Report & Score:- service comes with credit report and credit score. The current deal is that get Equifax 3-Bureau Credit Scores for $4.95, and the trial period runs for 30 days, thereafter you will be charged $17.95 per month. Customers have choice to cancel at any time during the trial period.
  
• Equifax credit scores and profiles and 3-bureau credit scores based on the information from all 3 bureaus
• Comprehensive credit file monitoring and automated alerts of key changes to your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports
• Financial alerts on up to 2 of your credit card and bank accounts
• One-stop assistance for canceling and reissuing credit/debit cards, Driver's licenses, Social Security cards, Insurance cards, passports and travelers' checks when a wallet is lost or stolen.
• Interactive Score Estimator™ enables you to simulate how future financial decisions might impact your score
• Privacy Monitoring and Protection- reveals information that exists about you on the Internet
• Access to customer service 7 days a week
• Up to $25,000 Identity Theft Insurance
• For more information and details on each of these Equifax product and way to get  Equifax Credit Report and Credit Score, Visit Equifax.

How to cancel Equifax credit report and membership account

Equifax lets customers call on their customer service number ,which is active 7/24. Customers can make call to below mentioned number and initiate account cancellation process. Once account is cancelled, Equifax customer care department will send an email with account cancellation confirmation. Customers can login to their account and see confirmation of Equifax product cancellation.

Cancellation process for Equifax membership and services

• US residents: 866-243-8181, 7 days a week between the hours of 8 am - 3 am EST
• Canada residents: 866-820-8911, 7 days a week between the hours of 8 am - 12 am EST.
• Once your product has been cancelled, you will receive a confirmation. You can also log into your Equifax Account and view your Order History, which will reflect the order as "Cancelled."

PLEASE note time to time webpage content and phone number changes.




Visit Equifax and read more on cancelling Equifax services or membership account.

How to get a TransUnion Credit Report and Credit Score 

The TransUnion credit agency is one of three credit reporting agencies providing credit reports to consumers and selling credit information/credit services to lenders. By Federal law each credit agency is mandated to provide free credit report to consumers once a year. Based on federal law , the three credit bureaus (Transunion, Experian and Equifax) created one company Annual Credit Report to provide free credit reports to consumers.


In case your goal is to get free credit report and you haven't used free credit report option from AnnualCreditReport.com website, please visit Annual Credit Report.

TransUnion Credit Report Services and Products

The TransUnion company is helping millions of customers with credit report, monitoring and identity theft services. Each service and product comes with different price model. Here is the brief note on each of these services.

• TransUnion Credit Report & Score:- service comes with credit report and credit score. The current deal is that you get free TransUnion Credit Score & $1 Credit Report are available as part of a 7-day trial subscription-based credit monitoring service. Customers have choice to cancel at any time during the trial period. At the end of 7-day trial, consumer will be billed at $17.95 per month. The catch is if you don't cancel your account within trial period you will end up paying $17.99 per month.
  Under this plan customers get unlimited updates to credit report and score. Instant email alerts and fraud alerts, identity theft protection and identity theft insurance up to $1,000,000.


• True Identity Protection:- Unfortunately there too many Internet hackers out there preying on innocent people to steal their identity and use it for various means. There are many gray market where such information is soled. Transunion provides TrueIDentity service to conduct internet watch to ensure person's identity is safe , no body is opening new accounts using person's SSN, loss wallet prevention, insurance on identity theft and many m ore benefits. The cost is $1 for first seven days as trial period  and thereafter $9.99 per month.


• Service provided are
• Monitor & Protect Personal Information, Credit Cards and Bank Accounts

• 3-Bureau Credit Report Monitoring

• Alerts of TU Credit Inquiries

• Lock and Unlock Your TU Credit Report

• Monitor Court Records & Payday Loans Matching Your Identity

• Get alerts any time your postal address changes

• Identify & Monitor Sex Offenders in Your Area

• Identity Restoration Specialists

• Lost Wallet Restoration

• Your TransUnion Credit Score & Report

• $1 Million ID Theft Insurance (Certain restriction apply)
• For more information and details on each of these TransUunion product and way to get  TransUnion Credit Report and Credit Score, Visit TransUnion.

How to cancel TransUnion credit report

Sounds like cancelling TransUnion services or membership is a multistep process. There is no easy option to cancel the account. You have to login to your account, click to "Help" tab on top of the page on right side. This will present the next page. On next page click on FAQ tab and select payment option. This will take you to a page with many links to helpful topics. One of them is "how can I cancel my account". Click on this link, will take you directly to cancelation page.

The information you get is 800 number to call and cancel your account, the good thing is TransUnion also provides a link to terminate the account electronically.

Cancellation process for Experian membership and services

• Login to your account
• Click on Help tab - placed at right corner
• Click on FAQ tab.
• Select Payment option
• Click on 'how can I cancel account" link
• You have two options, either calling 800 number to cancel account, or cancel electronically by clicking one more link cancel now.

PLEASE note time to time webpage content and phone number changes.




Visit TransUnion and read more on cancelling Transunion services or membership account.

How to get an Experian credit report and Credit Score 

The Experian credit agency is one of three credit reporting agencies providing credit reports to consumers and selling credit information to lenders. By Federal law each credit agency is mandated to provide free credit report to consumers once a year. Based on federal law , the three credit bureaus (Transunion, Experian and Equifax) created one company Annual Credit Report to provide free credit reports to consumers.


In case your goal is to get free credit report and you haven't used free credit report option from AnnualCreditReport.com website, please visit Annual Credit Report.

Experian Credit Report Services and Products

The Experian is helping consumers with many credit report, monitoring and tracking services. Each service and product comes with different price model. Here is the brief note on each of these services.

• Experian Credit Tracker:- service comes with credit report and credit score. The current deal is $1 for credit report and credit score, the catch is if account is not canceled within 7 days, then you will be billed for $14.95 each month that you continue membership. The additional services are instant online access to account, credit report and credit score. Access to information on credit risk , what factors push credit score up and down. In case you find errors in your report, you have access to dispute center to get those errors fixed.


• Identity Theft Protection:- Unfortunately there too many Internet hackers out there preying on innocent people to steal their identity and use it for various means. Experian provides three credit bureau monitoring, ID scanning and fraud resolution apart from getting you free credit report and credit score. The cost is $15.99 per month. The additional benefits are daily Internet Scanning for unauthorized use of your SSN, debit and credit cards, "Early warning Surveillance Alerts", "Dedicated Identity Theft Resolution Agents", Lost/Stolen wallet protection that helps you replace your cards fast and more.


• 3 Credit Bureau Reports and Credit Scores:- Access to three bureau credit reports and credit score form each of the three credit bureaus in one place. Information on Credit risk and factors which push up and down credit score. Access to online dispute center for error resolution. The cost is $39.99 for all three credit reports and credit scores.


• For more information and details on each of these Experian product and way to get an Experian Credit Report and Credit Score, Visit Experian.

How to cancel Experian credit report

Sounds like cancelling Experian services or membership is two step process. You call first Experian, inform them you are cancelling either membership for of any of their service or cancelling account all together. Experian will verify your request and once your request is confirmed Experience will notify you when account or membership will be finally cancelled. I guess they are using double factor confirmation process to ensure no one is cancelling your services on your behalf.

Cancellation process for Experian membership and services

• If you're a member of Triple Advantage® or Experian Credit TrackerSM and have questions about your subscription, you can call us at 1 877 284 7942 or email us at support@experiandirect.com.


• If you're a member of ProtectMyID® and have questions about your subscription, you can call us at 1 866 960 6943 or email us at Support@ProtectMyID.com


• Visit Experian and read more on cancelling Experian product and services.

CreditRepair.com Review - Credit Repair services

CreditRepair.com - Credit Repair Services

Honestly, looking at the ads, emails and mailers I receive for improving credit score or for credit repair services, I often smell scam out of it. There ads so good to be true, 100 points increase in 30 days, surety about improving credit score from bad to good in just few weeks.

I recommend visiting FTC webpage for educating yourself on what are the signs of a Credit Repair Scam.



However to be fair about the companies which are in credit repair business and are transparent about there work and promise they make to users, I plan to review few companies.

In my series of reviewing credit repair companies , today, I will be reviewing CreditRepair.com company for Credit Repair services. My review process will be based upon site design, site navigation, transparency on product services, BBB rating and details, on site customer reviews, complaints and comments on internet about their services.

CreditRepair.com Credit Repair Services - Company Review

www.creditrepair.com- Company history, Product Services, Faqs, Contact Information, and Leadership involved
Type	Description
Origin (Founded)	Not known
Industry	Consumer Report Repair
Company status	Private
Address	600 Stewart St STE 1100,Seattle, WA 98101-1269
Phone	1-855-255-0263
CreditRepair.com Services	Credit Repair and consumer services Credit Repair items removed and worked by CreditRepair.com Collections --- Late Payments --- Charge Offs Liens --- Bankruptcies --- Repossessions Foreclosures --- Judgments
Leadership	Not available
How it Works	Three step Check, Challenge and Remove process - CreditRepair.com
Credit Repair Plans	$89to start
Plan Cancellation	You can cancel plan at any time with no obligation
Accessing Credit Reports	In order to access credit reports, CreditRepair.com requires you to provide them three credit bureau reports.
Service breakup	Step 1: Account Setup:- Company claims they instantly pull credit reports and let you identify the errors you want to correct. This sets the game plan. Step 2: Challenge:- Working with credit companies and information credit bureaus is the next step. Step 3: Change:- Monitor your changes. Note: I would like creditrepair.com to put more content on website to let users know process in details.
Navigation	The site navigation is good.
Secure site	I reviewed there internet site address, which starts with https, hence effort has been made to make this site as secure.
Account setup	$89 to start with.
Better Business Bureau(BBB) rating	A+
BBB Review	48 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years | 34 closed in last 12 months  Read more on BBB
Internet Reviews	An old review from 2012  Better Business Bureau review

 CreditRepair.com Better Business Bureau Ratings

One of the newest kid on block. CreditRepair.com is in credit repair business form last few years providing credit repair services to hundreds of customers in America.  The firm definitely is legitimate business and has good BBB rating of A+.  After reviewing BBB web page for creditrepair.com, The current rating is "A+" and there are few customers reviews and complaints. Most of those  issues reported have been resolved.  The credit repair is slow process and to remove each wrong information or fixed errors in each credit bureau cycle it takes 30 days or more.

More on CreditRepair.com

It is a legitimate business and have reasonable good feedback from customers about fixing credit report. However I recommended reading their 'how it works' page and understanding  how there process works.


I would like to add CreditRepair.com customer reviews on my blog, if you have used Creditrepair.com Credit Repair services , please do send me your experience or comment on my blog.


Read more on CreditRepair.com - Credit Repair services

The Lexington Law Company Review - Credit Report Repair

Lexington Law Credit Repair Services

Honestly, looking at the ads, emails and mailers I receive for improving credit score or for credit repair services, I often smell scam out of it. There ads so good to be true, 100 points increase in 30 days, surety about improving credit score from bad to good in just few weeks.


However to be fair about the companies which are in credit repair business and are transparent about there work and promise they make to users, I plan to review few companies.


In my series of reviewing credit repair companies , today, I will be reviewing Lexington Law company for Credit repair services.


My review process will be based upon site design, site navigation, transparency on product services, BBB rating and details, on site customer reviews, complaints and comments on internet about their services.

Lexington Law Credit Repair Services - Company Review

www.lexingtonlaw.com//- Company history, Product Services, Faqs, Contact Information, and Leadership involved
Type	Description
Origin (Founded)	Year  1991
Industry	Consumer law Practice, Consumer Report Repair
Company status	Private
Headquarters(Address)	360 N Cutler Dr, North Salt Lake, UT 84054-2955  State wise address:
Phone	(800) 341-8441
Fax	(801) 297-2511
Lexington Services	Consumer Rights --- Child Custody --- General Litigation & Services Bankruptcy --- Divorce --- Criminal Defense Property & Water Rights --- DUI Defense --- Pro Bono (Select Cases) Read more about Lexington Services
Leadership	Not available ( A group of attorneys working for firm)
How it Works	More information on there 4 step enrollment process
Newsroom	Lexington News
Credit Repair Plans	$99.95 to start, $59.95/$99 month after
Plan Cancellation	You can cancel plan at any time with no obligation
Accessing Credit Reports	In order to access credit reports, Lexington Law requires you to provide them three credit bureau reports.
Service breakup	Step 1: Case Intake:- Access client credit reports. Verify and scan the relevant information which could help to improve credit score or repair bad credit. Set up user dashboard to upload documentation and monitor case progress Step 2: Legal Response:- Attorneys and paralegal person attached to case will draft legal letters and those letters are sent to credit bureaus.  Step 3: Credit Score Analysis:- Ways to improve score, a personalized report for clients. Step 4: Follow up & Escalation:- Work on Credit bureau feedback and follow-up work. Phone, email support from customer care agents, and paralegals.
Navigation	The site navigation can be made better not all links in footer.
Secure site	I reviewed there internet site address, which starts with https, hence effort has been made to make this site as secure.
Account setup	The initial deposite of $99.00 is required to setup the account.
Better Business Bureau(BBB) rating	B
BBB Review	Total of 563 tickets closed in 3 years. In last 12 months 209 tickets closed.
Internet Reviews	Reviews at Consumer Affairs  Reviews at  Yelp Reviews  Better Business Bureau Review

Lexington Law Better Business Bureau Ratings

The Lexington Law firm is in credit repair business form last 20 years plus and has helped thousands of clients. The firm definitely is legitimate business and being a law firm does bring credibility to its business service. After reviewing BBB web page for Lexington Law company, The current rating is "B" and there are many customers reviews and complaints. Most of those current issues reported have been resolved. There is a commitment and resolve to respond to customers complaints and problems, looking at BBB rating page they have closed 563 complaints and tickets in last 3 years out of that 209 tickets have been closed in last 12 months. .


The major complaint I see on internet is after closing of a account customers still get charged and many of the customers have to replace their credit cards or debit cards. This is something to check and see if any system failure is causing this action. I expect Lexington Law firm to look into this and update there webpage with the changes they make in process.

More on Lexington Law

Being law professionals and well versed with legal requirements, Lexington Law is legitimate business and has proven tack record to fix credit report errors. However I recommended reading their 'how it works' page and understand there credit report process



I would like to add customer reviews on my blog, if you have used Lexington Law Credit Repair services , please do send me your experience or comment on my blog. Read more on Lexington Law Credit Repair services

Sky Blue Credit Repair Services - Credit Repair Service Review

Sky Blue Credit Repair Services

Honestly, looking at the ads, emails and mailers I receive for improving credit score or for credit repair services, I often smell scam out of it. There ads so good to be true, 100 points increase in 30 days, surety about improving credit score from bad to good in just few weeks.


However to be fair about the companies which are in credit repair business and are transparent about there work and promise they make to users, I thought of reviewing few companies.



In my series of reviewing credit repair companies , today, I will be reviewing Sky Blue Credit company for Credit repair services. My review process will be based upon site design, site navigation, transparency on product services, BBB rating and details, on site customer reviews and complaints and comments on internet about their services.

Sky Blue Credit Repair - Company Review

www.skybluecredit.com/- Company history, Product Services, Faqs, Contact Information, and Leadership involved
Type	Description
Origin (Founded)	Year  1989
Industry	Credit Repair Services
Company status	Private
Headquarters(Address)	6001 Broken Sound Pkwy, Ste 300,  Boca Raton, FL 33487
Phone	Toll Free: (800) 790-0445
Leadership	Not available
How it Works	More information on there 3 step enrollment process
Sky Blue Credit Faqs	Read Sky Blue Credit Faqs -
Credit Repair Plans	Plans starts from 59.99 per month - The first monthly fees is not charged  until a month later.
Plan Cancellation	You can cancel plan at any time with no obligation
Accessing Credit Reports	In order to access credit reports , Sky Blue Charges customes additional money. Read Faqs.
Service breakup	Detailed review of customers credit report Personalized assessment and tips for improvement Customized dispute letters sent to Credit Bureaus
90 day guarantee	Although company does states 90 day guaranty, however details are not clear.
Family plan	Company also offers $99 dollar option for married couples.
Navigation	The site navigation is good Site footer has all the relevant details specially links to Faqs, Contact , guide, and tutorials.
Secure site	I reviewed there internet site address, which starts with https, hence effort has been made to make this site as secure.
Account setup	The initial deposite of $59.00 is required to setup the account. There after $59.00 is monthly fees.
Better Business Bureau(BBB) rating	A+
BBB complaints	Total of 6 complaints documented on BBB website and all of them are closed.
Internet complaints	No other complaints found on internet.

More on Sky blue Credit Service

Sky Blue credit are oldest in this trade and have good rating from BBB and I couldn't find any complaints on internet about them or their services. It seems they do good job on cleaning the credit report errors. There sign up process is straight forward and there is good deal of transparency on product services.

I would like to add customer reviews on my blog, if you have used Sky Blue Credit services , please do send me your experience or comment on my blog. Read more on Sky Blue Credit Repair services

How to build a Good Credit Score

I wish we had quick remedy to fix credit score or improve credit score. There is no secret sauce to build a good credit score. It is a step by step process to monitor your credit report and look for the factors which have impacted your credit rating and start improving them methodically. Credit management gurus have often said again and again that best advice to improving credit score is to manage credit responsibly and over the time credit score will improve. However here are few important guidelines on "how to build a good credit score'.

Access and monitor Credit Report

The first step towards improving the credit score is to access your credit report for the details you want to verify and correct. Although you can access your credit report from credit bureaus but it will cost you few dollars. You can access credit report from credit bureaus operating in America. The three credit bureaus documenting consumer information are (Transunion(www.tranunion.com), Equifax(www.equifax.com) and Experian(www.experian.com)). Accessing credit report directly from these credit bureaus will cost you few dollars.


There is one more option to get your credit report absolutely free. The Annual credit report site set up by the big three credit reporting agencies in the United States, to furnish free annual credit reports, as required by federal law. The law provides help to consumers to download free credit report once a year from each of these three credit bureaus.


My personal strategy is to use free credit reports one bureau per quarter, that way I can get more updated reports in next three quarters. However if you are looking for a big loan or you are in middle of improving credit score than downloading all three reports will be a better option. Sometimes there discrepancies between credit bureaus and you don't want to take chance to leave anything behind without credit repair. Get your free credit report from Annual Credit Report.

Monitor and understand your credit report

Now you have credit report in front of you the next step is to understand the structure of report. The information to look for -      - Read through your personal information. How your identifiable information is documented such as name, address, phone numbers.

     - Carefully read your accounts (bank, credit cards), do they match with the credit account you have opened.

     - Check for payment status, do you see any late payments 30, 60 day etc. IF hey don't belong to you it is time to create dispute ticket with credit bureaus and have them removed.

     - What is your debit ratio? This is equation between the credit available to you and the balance you carry on each account. The more lower balance and good available credit on each account helps to raise credit score.

     - Look for any collection accounts, you may have paid those bills but information is still on your consumer file. Raise ticket with credit bureaus and have them remove it from your file.

     - If you have small balances on few credit cards, it may be better strategy to have them paid off and then use couple of credit cards with good low interest rate. Consolidating balance to few cards helps.

     - Look for old derogatory information on file. the old collection accounts, missed payments or late payments can stay only for seven years. If they are old accounts and passed seven year mark then it is time to have them removed from your file.

Setting up payment alerts

You will be surprised many of the consumers simply miss payments or pay late credit card bill because they forget to pay on time. Isn't that a sorry state? Regardless of any reasons you may have for paying late bills or missing payments a strategy to have payment reminder setting on your smart phone, online bill payment or on thing's to do chart plastered on your fridge is a very useful tip. Paying credit cards bills on time specially before due date will help you to improve credit score.

Consolidating Card balance

I already mentioned paying off small balances on cards and then using couple of cards with low interest rate is way to go .

Keeping old good installment or paid debt accounts

Having old installment or paid debt account such as auto, small loans actually gives comfort to creditors and kind of acts as good credit report. It sends positive signal to lenders that you are committed and sincere in paying off the debt. Having good old account them on credit report is absolutely fine.

Making multiple loan request

As long lenders make inquires without your approval and pull your credit report to analyze for credit offer, it doesn't affect your credit report. These type of inquires are considered as soft inquiries.
When you apply to lenders and  any denied credit request actually brings your credit score by few points. hence it is important to access your credit report and understand your placement of creditworthiness based on credit score. This will dictate how much credit you can get.

On time Payments

Paying on time, before due date, and paying more than minimum payment is sure process to improve credit score.

Watch for missed or late payments

Having missed payments or late payments is not the end of everything. Looking at your mistake talking to lenders and bringing your account to current is first step. Sometime lenders will help you to forgo the past payments or put you on low monthly installment program to get you back on track. Making sure going forward you pay bills on time,  before due date and paying more than the required minimum payments is sure way to improve credit score.

Type of Credit

Having mix of credit accounts helps in some cases such as mixing auto, credit, debit and retail accounts. it shows wide variety of account and the length of payment history on these accounts.

Retail accounts to raise available credit

Retails cards are good to shop at individual stores and get big discounts they offer. There is one more reason to have them. Recently, I got retail cards from North storm ($10,000), Macys ($4,000), and old navy ($2000). My intention is to keep available credit to lower my debit to ratio. (Note - On some retail cards if you purchase out side of store items you will be charged with a higher interest rate. For example on my north Strom credit card I get charge with x percent on in-store purchases and on other purchases I get charged with a higher rate. )

Credit score improving links

Finally, few credit improving links, where you can get information in details and proven ways on 'how to build a good credit score.'

• Credit score A, B C and Z at FICO
• Improve trick at Experian credit bureau.
• CreditKarma not only gives you tips to improve credit score but also provides you free credit report. Visit creditKarma.
• Information at Equifax Credit Score . Equifax
• Information at Transunion - What matters most. Transunion.
• Free credit reports at Annual Credit Reports





I appreciate your feedback and if you like to add useful credit links, ping me. Thanks in advance.