Good Info on Receiving Your Credit Report

There are many ways to get your credit report. Some are more convenient than others, but it is important to check your credit report at least once a year. Although there are many sites offering credit reports for free, they generally will provide the report for only a limited amount of time. If you are interested in having unlimited access to your report any time day or night, you can purchased a subscription that will allow you to do just that.

These services that require you to pay a monthly membership fee usually offer more than just a simple route credit report. Normally with these services, the amount of options that they have available for you will determine how much the membership is. A lot of these sites will offer notifications by e-mail of any activity that happens to your credit report. If you’re worried about identity theft then this could be a really great option for you to consider. This option will allow you to view any of the activity that might be happening to your credit report so you know what is happening at all times.

Checking your credit report periodically is important and should be taken seriously. With a yearly review, you will be able to determine whether or not activity on your report was authorized by you. If you notice activity that was not done with your permission, you can take steps to correct the error. Not monitoring your report may have devastating consequences. An identity theft case, depending on the severity, may take years to correct. You will not want to find yourself in this position especially if it can be prevented.

Your bank or credit union will usually provide you with a credit report for free. The average bank or credit union will provide one credit report per year free of charge. However, if you apply for a loan within that timeframe, they will generally allow you to receive a copy of your report. This may not be true for all financial institutions, so be sure to check your banks policy.

If you ever apply for a service like a credit card and are denied because of your credit score, you then become entitled to a free copy of your credit report from the company which denied you. When you are denied, the company that has to send you a letter explaining to you why you were denied in providing you with the opportunity to get that free copy of your credit report. You will normally have to make the request for your report and writing but the instructions on how to do this are included with the letter.

Make sure to keep track of your credit score and check your report regularly. No one else will be checking your report for you and you will be required to make a specific request to see it. Although there are many different ways to get your report, the immediate and most convenient are generally the most expensive. However, as long as you continue to review your history, you are far less likely to be one of the many victims of identity theft.