Know what is on Your Credit Report

 

Imagine that you have gone to apply for a home mortgage loan, and you are told that you were denied – because your credit wasn’t good enough. Not knowing what is on your credit report ahead of time is a mistake that many first-time home buyers tend to make.

 

It is important that you know what is on your credit report, and you should get a copy of your report at least once each year – even if you don’t intend to apply for any loans.

 

The first reason for needing to know what is on your report is to ensure that everything on it is right. The fact is that out of ten people, at least five will find errors on their credit report.

 

Those errors can keep you from getting loans or credit cards. They could even keep you from qualifying for some jobs! When there is an error on your report, you need to call the reporting agency and the creditor to clear up the problem as soon as possible.

 

Pulling your credit report is also a good way to know if you have been the victim of identity theft. Some errors may not be errors at all… they may be proof that someone else is using your information! Again, contact the reporting agency, the creditor, and if necessary, the police.

 

If you do have negative items on your credit report that are not errors, it is in your best interest to take care of those matters as quickly as possible. In many cases, you can call the creditor and work out terms with them, or negotiate a lower cost for clearing up the debt. Most creditors will work with you is they see that you are making a genuine effort to clear up the matter.

 

Don’t make the mistake of not having anything at all on your credit report. You want items on there, and you want them all to be good. Many would be lenders actually view some bad credit as being better than no credit at all! It’s difficult to get credit when you have no past credit.

 

This is easily rectified by applying for and getting a major credit card, and making the payments on time.

 

If you have the cash to buy a vehicle out right, you are actually better off – from a credit standpoint – to finance the vehicle, and then pay it off early, after about a year. This will show positive credit on your report.