Thursday, May 22, 2008

Fix Those Errors on Your Credit Report

If you've been waiting for the dust to settle before you buy a home or take out some other type of loan, you first need to take a close look at your credit report.

About three-quarters of all credit reports contain errors, according to a 2004 survey by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Some mistakes are serious enough to prevent you from being approved for a loan.

Correcting a mistake can take 30 to 45 days, so you shouldn't wait until you are ready to apply for a mortgage to inspect your report.

You are allowed a free credit report once a year from each of the three credit-reporting agencies (Transunion, Equifax(EFX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Experian), but you have to ask for it.

There is a one-stop Web site, AnnualCreditReport.com, where you can look at your reports online or have them mailed to you.

You can order all three reports at once, or you can space them out every four months to keep tabs on your credit all year long. But if this is your first time taking a close look, you may want to check all three as soon as possible, to make sure none of them have any mistakes.

news source : http://www.thestreet.com/

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