Get Your Free Credit Report!
Mood:  hungry
Topic: credit reports
Did you know you are (or will be shortly) entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion)?

Those of us on the west coast and midwest are currently eligible. The southeast and northeast will be eligible by the end of the year.

Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to see if/when you are eligible as well as to get your free reports.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to get your free credit reports and, more importantly, to correct any mistakes on them. I speak with members all the time who I have to decline for a checking account or debit card simply because of information on their credit report that they deny belongs to them. (I don't work on consumer loans at all so I can't claim to deny any loans due to credit issues; but people are undoubtably affected when applying for loans as well)

Keep in mind: it is not the reponsibility of the financial institution to double check information on these credit reports. If you apply for a car loan and the loan officer pulls a credit report and it shows 10 items that have gone to collections, you will most likely be denied credit. Even if these 10 collections items are in error/not your fault. It is your responsibilty to correct mystakes on your own report. So, please, get your free report each year and ensure that all the information is accurate.

I had a coworker who pulled her report only to find out that there were multiple mistakes on her credit reports that traced back upwards of 5 years. I found a couple of mistakes on my reports as well (accounts that showed still being open even though they were closed). So you never know what wrong information might be affecting the next auto loan, or even job you apply for.