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Is Your Credit Rating Important?
Let's put it this way .... a mistake on your credit history can have a devastating effect on your life. It could mean higher interest payments on your home mortgage or the inability to obtain a loan or a credit card or. It might prevent you from renting the right apartment or from obtaining the job you want because many employers check credit history. Recently, it has been used by matchmaking (dating) services to determine "character". The list goes on and on, There are a several ways of checking your credit. They involve obtaining credit reports containing your credit history directly from the credit bureaus or from credit reporting companies. It is recommended that you check your credit history every year ... at a minimum!
What are the main Credit Bureaus? What role do they play? What type of information do they have? How do you communicate with them?
Before you can start to maximize your use of credit or deal with credit problems, you need to know
what the credit reporting agencies are saying about you! Once you know what shape your credit history is in, you can start to build or rebuild your credit.
Creditors use credit scoring, also knows as FICO credit scores, to evaluate your creditworthiness and to decide automatically whether to extend credit to you or to deny your request.
Credit Reporting Agencies are responsible for having accurate and complete
information in their files. However, mistakes are very common. It is possible to
have errors corrected, but its not always easy or quick.
Having no credit is vastly superior to having poor credit. It is easy to start establishing credit. There are many ways but the easiest is to apply for secured or unsecured credit cards.
You can always re-establish good credit; however, depending on the situation it may take weeks or years. Credit fraud may be easy to fix. A bankruptcy may keep your score low for several years.
Your credit history can suffer greatly if you are a victim of credit fraud or if your credit card is lost or stolen. Learn how to protect yourself against fraud.
You can find quite a bit of information online. If you prefer, there are books to help you establish, maintain, repair or protect your credit.
Answers to commonly asked questions regarding credit.
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