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Your Credit Report
Your credit report provides information to current and prospective creditors to help you make purchases, secure loans, pay for college educations, and manage your personal finances. Credit reporting makes it possible for stores to accept your checks, banks to offer credit and debit cards, businesses to market products, and corporations to better manage their operations to benefit the world's economy.
Your credit report is only compiled when you or a lender makes an inquiry. Information supplied by lenders, you, and court records is gathered from the credit reporting agency's file and presented in report format for the requester.
Credit grantors send updates to each of the credit reporting agencies, usually once a month. These updates include information about how their customers use and pay their accounts.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you may be entitled to receive a free copy of your personal credit report if you have been declined credit, housing, or employment in the last 60 days. To request your free copy, ask your mortgage company or contact one of the credit reporting agencies directly.
In a new act passed by Congress, you are also entitled to receive one free report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies per year. You can visit the Annual Credit Report website to request your free report from either Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian. Their easy-to-use website is located at www.AnnualCreditReport.com, or you can request your copy by calling 877.322.8228 (toll free). It is important to verify the information on your credit report for accuracy. Any errors could affect your final credit score, thereby affecting your loan application and interest rate.