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Check Your Credit Report |
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Did you know that potential employers and insurance companies may check your credit report before hiring you and when establishing how much you'll pay for insurance? Verifying the accuracy of your credit report is important for getting the best rates on loans, credit cards and other consumer services. Errors on your credit report can be detected during review of your free annual credit reports it may not be necessary to pay for credit monitoring unless you're sure your credit or identity has been compromised.
Credit Information:
Your credit report typically contains trade and credit lines open for the past ten years. Creditors are shown from the most recent to the oldest. It's important to review each entry for information on accounts including bank accounts, other deposits, credit cards, car loans, home loans, and student loans. For each account, you'll want to review:
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- Name of creditor: this can vary due to mergers and sales by financial institutions.
- Creditor's address
- Credit limit
- Approximate balance owed: your credit report may not show most recent payment or charges.
- Payment status: You're looking for "paid as agreed" unless you know you've missed or made late payments. Review any negative information carefully; defaulted accounts can indicate identity theft or unauthorized use of your accounts.
It's important to ensure that this information is correct. If you have a common name, make sure that all accounts shown are yours and that account activity matches your records. If you find incorrect information, contact applicable credit bureaus using the contact information supplied with your credit report.
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