In: Categories » Legal and finance » Debt and credit » What you should know about your credit record
| If you’ve fallen behind in your payments, that information is probably being reported in your credit record. What is a credit record? And why should you care? Whenever you apply for a loan or a charge card, and many times when you apply for an apartment or a job, someone will check your credit record to see if you have a history of paying your bills on time. Your credit record shows all of the loans and credit accounts you’ve had for the past seven years, and records every late payment. Bankruptcy is included as part of your credit record for ten years, as are other legal judgments against you. When you apply for a job that pays more than $75,000 or for a loan or life insurance policy of more than $150,000, there’s no time restriction on your record—the employer, lender, or insurer can get a report on your credit history for your entire life. So a bad credit record can keep you from getting a loan, an apartment, or a job for a very long time. A good credit record can make you look impressive to a potential employer or lender. A bad credit record can make you look irresponsible and untrustworthy. If you’ve been denied credit or insurance or been turned down for a job within the last 60 days because of something on your credit record, you can request a free copy to check for accuracy. (The company that turned you down for a loan, insurance, or a job is required to give you the name, address, and telephone number of the bureau that supplied the information.) If you haven’t had any problems, you can request a copy of your record for a low fee. Residents of some states are entitled to a free report once a year. The three largest credit bureaus supply most credit reports. If you’ve had credit problems in the past few years, it’s a good idea to request a report of your record from each of them. Call or visit their Web sites to get ordering instructions.
When you get your reports, look them over carefully. If there’s anything you don’t understand, call the credit bureau for an explanation. The reports include a lot of information and you may need some help interpreting them the first time you see them. Federal law requires that the bureaus make this help available to you. If you find a mistake in any of the reports, you have the right to dispute it and try to have it corrected. Ask the credit bureau for a dispute form or send a letter with the correction you are suggesting. Attach copies of any supporting documentation (not original documents). Clearly identify each item in the report that you think is mistaken and explain why you think it is wrong. The bureau will respond in writing in about four weeks. It is the credit bureau’s responsibility to prove that the information is correct, not yours to prove that it is wrong. If the bureau investigates and finds that a mistake has been made on your record, the bureau will correct it. You can then ask the bureau to send a corrected version to anyone who has received your report within the past six months—and to any employer who requested a copy of your report as part of a job application process in the past two years. You can also ask the bureau to identify the source of the mistaken information, and you should send a letter explaining the mistake to that source, too. If you’re having problems with debt and have fallen behind on payments to any of your creditors, it’s probably not mistakes on your credit record that will be your problem. It will be the detailed evidence of your late and missed payments. The only remedy for this is to improve your payment record, starting now. You are entitled to insert a statement of up to 100 words in your credit record explaining any late payment or credit problems. You might use this right to explain a stretch of money problems that were the result of a job loss, illness, divorce, or some other setback. You might also use it to explain that a particular bill wasn’t paid because service wasn’t completed or the merchandise was defective. You might also use the statement to explain that you recognized a debt problem at a certain date, and have committed yourself since then to improving your credit record. If the credit record shows an end to late-payment problems at that time, this statement and the evidence of your commitment to solving your debt problems will go a long way toward repairing your record.
|
legal disclaimer
1) Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article as well for any and all copyright infringements by authors and writers. E-articles is a free information resource. If you suspect this article for any copyright infringements, please read the Terms of service and contact us to investigate the problem.
2) The E-articles directory team is not responsible for inaccuracies, falsehoods, or any other types of misinformation this tutorial may contain and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by a user through the user's reliance on the information gained here. Please read the Terms of service
Useful tools and features
If you like this article (tutorial), please link to it from your web page using the information above. Linking to this page, this is the only way to help us improve our service, the same time providing your visitors with a way to improve their online experience.
related articles
Debt negotiation and debt consolidation are available when we need qualified debt assistance. Whenever the monthly bills become too much for us, it really makes sense to use debt negotiation or debt consolidation for solving credit and debt issues. Debt negotiation Sometimes, debt negotiation is referred as debt settlement. This is offered to people who cannot call for a debt consolidation service. If we haven't made payments in the last 3 months or simply cannot make the minimal payments for a debt consolidati...
2. Debt consolidation ~ Pros and cons of paying debt with a mortgage
Because of the new bankruptcy laws, people are looking for alternate ways to consolidate their bills, credit card consolidation solutions as well as proven loan consolidation solutions. One of the most popular methods for homeowners to consolidate their debts is represented by debt consolidation loans by taking out a home equity loan (second mortgage), by mortgage refinancing (the replacement of an existing mortgage with a new mortgage) or by taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC). But, you have to take into consideration sev...
3. Debt consolidation services ~ Overview
What does it mean a debt consolidation service? Debt consolidation services represent firms specialized to help people to free themselves from the burden of debt. A debt consolidation service is just what we need to get out of the tangle of debt. If we have debt that seems to grow up more and more month by month, bills we cannot even afford the min. payments, the situation continued for a long time and no end to foresee, then a debt consolidation advice is the solution. How could debt consolidation services prov...
4. Credit cards ~ Advantages and disadvantages
Nowadays, credit cards represent a major element of American life. The most interesting about the credit cards is that they begin to be used in the late adolescence, when children are developing their abilities. Generally speaking, credit cards have pros and cons related to the children’s delayed gratification. These advantages and disadvantages should be taken care of before applying for credit cards. The understanding of the delayed gratification Usually, parents try to socialize their children in ...
5. Factors for calculating your Credit Score
Payment History (on an average 35% of your score is based on this history). When you apply for a loan the first thing that a lender usually examines is whether you have any unpaid credit accounts in the past. This is because any history of late payments may decrease your score although this happens in rare occasions. A late payment occurring once or twice is outweighed by an overall good credit picture. Again if you do not have any history of a late payment that does not mean that your credit score will improve. This is...
6. Nonfinancial Factors That Affect the Credit Decision
As virtually every credit professional knows, making a credit decision is as much an art as it is a science. The stark financial analysis may indicate that the customer should not be granted credit terms, but there are often other factors to be considered. Here is a brief look at some of the nonfinancial issues that affect the final determination: • The 5 Cs of credit: character, capacity, capital, conditions, and collateral. One credit analyst revealed that his company routinely sold on open-accou...
7. The four steps to reduce your debt
There are 4 basic steps that will help you get out of debt. 1. Admit that you have a problem and commit yourself to fixing it. Only you can solve your debt problem. And you can only solve it if you decide that it’s a problem worth solving. There are a few ways of making that commitment. Some experts recommend writing a statement owning up to the problem and signing it. Others suggest that you call a family meeting and have an open discussion of the debts you face. A debt problem is ...
8. Types of Long Term Debt
The following types of long-term debt are covered here: 1. Term loans 2. Bonds 3. Debentures 4. Mortgage bonds 5. Convertible bonds 6. Senior debt 7. Subordinated debt 8. Junk bonds Term Loans. This is the form of long-term debt most frequently used by businesses. It is a loan from a bank to acompany that is used to finance expansion efforts. It has afixed maturity date, frequently five to seven years from the date o...
9. Tips to improve your Credit Score
Below are described general tips on how to improve your credit score. 1. Always try to maintain a good track record of paying your bills on time. This will help you to enhance the credit score. 2. Be aware of the fact that when you miss a payment on any collection accounts and try to close the account the report of the account will always be there on your credit report. So try to avoid that. 3. Visiting a credit counselor will not affect your credit score or make you lose some points. Ins...