Government free credit report
Credit report plays very important role in getting loans and advances from different types of lending institutions. Almost all the lenders check the credit history of borrower before offering loans like home loans, mortgage loans, car loans, etc. Bad credit rating can devoid a person of loans and he may feel himself at sea in many situations. Credit reports are offered by specialized organizations called as credit bureaus.
Three major credit bureaus in United States are Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. Getting and checking credit report is very essential as these reports may contain errors and different types of negative information. Through free government credit report, these errors can be checked. As per fair credit reporting act, three credit bureaus mentioned above are required to law to provide one free copy of credit report, if requested, in a year. Free government credit report can be obtained online or a person can get the same through phone or through mail. When requested by mail or phone, time period taken is 15 days of making the request. For getting more information about free government credit report, a person can log on to annualcreditreport.com.
For getting free government credit report, there are certain pieces of information that have to be provided by a person. For example, a person has to furnish his name, address and social security number, birth date etc. While applying for free reports online, a person should be careful about imposter companies that misspell the web site name and get important information for undesirable uses. Free government credit report can also be obtained if any lender or other such institution has taken an unfavorable action against a person. This provision has been given under the federal law. For example, if application of credit of a person has been rejected due to any reason, he can get a copy of free credit report.
Similarly, if insurance or employment application of a person has been rejected, he can make a request for free government credit report within 60 days of notice. This notice should contain the name and address along with contact number of the consumer reporting organization. One free government credit report has also been entitled to those people who are unemployed and wishes to search for a job in coming 60 days. Similarly, if credit report of a person is incorrect due to any reason, copy of free government credit report can be requested. Negative items in the credit report can remain for years together, which affect credit rating and credit scores badly, and so, a person must obtain the free government credit report invariably once in a year.
Information Contained in Free Government Credit Report
There are different types of information contained in the free government credit report. In a nutshell, credit report contains information about a person and financial actions taken by him in the past. Thus, information about all loan accounts, repayment done and credit cards are contained in the credit report. Experts feel that a person must obtain free government credit report for reviewing his credit and for understanding what credits have been saying about him. Through reading and understanding free government credit report can be confusing for a person, he should try to real entire credit report. If necessary, he can take help of a counselor working for a not-for-profit organization.
Personal information contained in the free government credit report contains details like name, present and previous addresses, present and past employment place etc. Credit reports can contain spelling mistakes as these are quite common. In fact, credit bureaus go for variations in spelling for maintaining important link between the identity of a person and the credit information contained in the report.
Credit information is other section contained in the free government credit report. This section contains bulk of information about the financial actions taken by a person and include credit accounts, repayment history etc. Each credit account contained in the credit report contains several pieces of information. For example, name of the lender where account has been opened, account number, type of credit account and its repayment terms, date of opening of credit account, highest balance carried, credit limit offered etc are some of the information contained in this section. Balance in each credit account and status of account is also provided. A person can know about the payment he has been making monthly by reading the account history section. Depending upon the credit bureau, collection accounts may be included in the account history section of free government credit report or these can be provided in a separate section.
Other section contained in the free government credit report is the public record information. This section includes important information like tax liens, bankruptcy, judgment etc. Country court records are also contained in this section. In some states, public record section also contains information about overdue child support. This public record may remain in the credit report of a person from 7 to 10 years depending upon the type of account. This section includes only severe financial problems. There are no criminal information contained in public record. Credit score or history of a person is damaged badly by this section and thus, it is very important that a person reads and understands this section in detail. If needed, help of a professional can also be taken.
Other important section contained in the credit report of a person is credit inquiry. This section provides information about all the lenders or parties that have accessed credit report in last 2 years. However, lenders may not be shown all the entries.
If a person comes to know about a mistake contained in any of the sections mentioned above, he has got right to get the same corrected. Incorrect information can be disputed with credit bureaus.
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