Author: Geoff Morris
3 Credit Report
Sometimes when you are trying to fight yourself out of a financial pickle the last thing you think about is a 3 credit report.
Well, A 3 credit report can be useful for a variety of reasons.
There are three major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, and each of them has their own information about your credit, so to get a good credit report, you really should use all 3. Fortunately, especially if you are short of those greenbacks, you can get a 3 credit report for about $24, and this will tell you all you need to know about your credit.
Many financial institutions need to know your 3 credit report before they will approve of you, and so knowing your credit record can give you a heads up on your chances of receiving all kinds of services. For example, a home loan will not be given if you have a bad credit score, and neither will insurance, a credit card with a low apr, or some times even a lease on a house of car.
So knowing your 3 credit report is vital as it can be a short cut to save you time applying to services which you won't receive.
Now I don't want you to worry about the next bit too much but... Another thing about knowing your 3 credit report score is that it can show you if someone has been defrauding you or stealing your identity. Yep, it does happen, and sadly more and more these days.
If, for example, someone has been getting accounts in your name and not telling you or paying them, they will show up on your 3 credit reports as a bad score. This gives you the opportunity to take appropriate legal action to get them removed from your record and to get the guy who did it by calling the cops.
Getting the bad fraud charges off of your 3 credit report score can be a major hassle.
Once a friend of mine had serious charges on her 3 credit report because someone was using cellphone using her name from Detroit, and the company would not believe it was not her, even though it was a different residence. To get them to believe it, she had to produce several pieces of identity and mail, as well as her home title to show where she was living. They just wouldn't believe that the address was what she said it was until she showed them lots of proof. What a hassle and what a waste of time.
There are lots and lots of ways that you can improve your credit score. One of them is to own credit cards and regularly pay off your payments to show that you are reliable and can be trusted with credit. I know this sounds crazy but it really is true! have them even if you don't need them.
If you regularly pay off your balance, and are on time with gas, phone, electric, and utility bills, this also helps.
In the long run, it is worth it for you to keep your credit good, because it means you qualify for better interest rates, bigger lines of credit, and all kinds of other financial benefits that you wouldn't have otherwise.
So if you aren't there yet you can get there - really, it's easy and you've got nothing to lose.
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