1. Paying for a credit report is something that a lot of people get told they need to do every six months or so. They go to a website that has the latest catchy jingle on the television and go there and buy a merged credit report from Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union.
2. The credit report is going to cost you probably $30 and you might even get told that you need to sign up for a credit watch thingy that costs you $25 a year or something. Stop wasting your money.
3. You already know what is on your credit report, or at least you should. What do you get bills for every month? Do you get a credit card bill? Yup, then it will be on there. Do you have a mortgage, car lease, boat loan, time share or any other monthly payments? Yes. Than guess what they will be on your credit report.
4. Why do you want to pay somebody money to tell you what you already know? It’s crazy. This is just a way for the credit bureaus to make more money. The credit bureaus make most of their money from charging banks and financial instituions to watch your credit and give you a credit score.
5. A lot of major financial instituions have a clause that will let them pull your credit report to make sure that you are paying on time and it also let’s them look to see if you had paid anything off. Why would they want to know if you have paid any credit card bills or home equity lines of credit? The reason is so then they will call you up and try to give you more money so they can earn interest.
6. The only reason why you should ever check your credit on your own is when you know that you have never paid anything on time and you get collection notices from credit card companies or other financial companies. This is when you need to spring into action and start cleaning up your credit report. When you look at your credit report it will tell you the names of every company that is reporting something in collection or any liens. Get to work on those right away…or not. Credit is for people who like to finance things. If you don’t see yourself financing anymore things like a car, a home, or even opening up a credit card because you are going to pay cash from now on then just let it stay on there so you can acheive the lowest credit score of all time.
7. You are serious about cleaning up your credit report because you do see a time in the near future where you are going to buy a house and you are going to need to get approved on a new home loan. You want to make sure your credit score is high so you get approved for the best mortgage rates available. It is still going to be a couple months away but its imperative to you to clean up your credit report.
8. Do not go to any of the credit bureaus websites and buy a credit report. Save your $30 and get a free credit report the easy way. Do some research on what mortgage company you want to work with when you are ready to buy a home and give them a call. They will be more than happy to pull your credit report for free.
9. Mortgage companies have to pull your credit report anyways to see if you can even get approved on a new home loan. Many larger mortgage companies like Quicken Loans, Countrywide, and Chase can in a matter of minutes look at your current mortgage situation (if you currently have one) or see if you could get approved on a new mortgage to buy a home. To be able to start quoting you mortgage rates, the mortgage banker must pull your credit report. Your credit report will pull up on their screen in a matter of seconds from all three credit bureaus. Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union will show everything you have ever financed. Most things stay on your credit report for about 10 years so the mortgage banker will see it all.
10. Even if you do not want to get approved on a new home loan and just want your credit score, just try to patronize them and tell them that your thinking about buying a home or looking to refinance your home. As soon as your credit report pops up on their screen they will tell you all three of your credit scores from the different credit bureaus. If you did not know, mortgage companies use your middle score to qualify you. After they tell you the score ask them if anything is showing up late or in collections. If there is ask them what and who is reporting it. Many mortgage bankers will give you this info because they want you to go out and repair your credit so maybe you will call them back to do a new home loan. Depending on the mortgage broker some of them might see a lot of bad things on your credit report and instead of taking up 10 minutes of their time, they will just copy your whole credit report and paste it in an e-mail and send it to you. Regardless if they do it or not (most will even if they are not supposed too) you still get the credit report for free and all it cost you was maybe 10 minutes of your time. If 10 minutes is too much then try this. Call the mortgage company and say your looking to buy a new home but your afraid your credit report may be bad. The mortgage banker will cut straight to the chase and say that they are going to pull your credit report before they go any farther. This will save you about 8 minutes. The mortgage companies get charged $10-$15 for a credit report because they do so many. In a normal day most mortgage bankers will pull 3 credit reports and with 1500 or more people doing mortgage’s for the company you can see why just 1 free credit report for you will not be so bad.
Hi,
When most people think of credit cards, they are thinking of an unsecured credit card. An unsecured credit card is a card that is issued to you based solely on your consumer credit score and repayment ability.