Keeping a close watch on your credit reports periodically is an important step in securing your financial future. In this article from Bankrate, financial journalist and author Jean Chatzky offers a roadmap for how to obtain and check your credit report, and what steps you should take if you find any inaccuracies.
In May, Bankrate released a piece of research that found more than a third of Americans have never checked their credit reports. That’s right – never.
Credit reports can be intimidating. They’re lengthy, with a lot of numbers and small print. So in an effort to get more people to take a hands-on approach to their credit, here’s all the information you need to obtain yours – and read it.
Due to federal legislation, you’re entitled to one copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus per year, for a total of three.
Understand what you’re reading. Your credit report is divided into four main sections: personal information, account information, negative information (judgments, bankruptcies and liens), and inquiries (a list of attempts to access your credit).
Be sure to call out any inaccuracies. There’s really no such thing as a small error when it comes to your credit report. A misspelled name could cause your file to get mixed up with someone else’s, and an incorrect address could indicate that someone has tried to take out credit in your name. Inaccurate borrowing information could drag down your score unfairly, so be sure to look at every account and make sure that the information reported is accurate – most importantly payment history.
