Check Credit Rating

In the past three years, the calamitous stock market falls, with the demise of huge companies left and right, have damaged the credit ratings of millions of Americans. Many who have been devastated as their credit rating zoomed down from the high 700s to the low 400s no longer care about their credit rating. This group includes mostly those who have filed bankruptcy and / or lost their homes to foreclosure as well. For them, credit rating seems not even important anymore. Or is it?

The nation will climb out of this financial black hole and as it does, the financial circumstances of individual citizens will also slowly improve. Jobs will return gradually, and new employment will be secured. As this happens, it then becomes more important to begin the repair of credit ratings. Even if your credit rating has tanked, you need to know the score. If a bankruptcy has wiped out all your debts then you have essentially begun life again but with the stigma of a bankruptcy on your credit record. Not to despair: this bankruptcy will not prevent you from rebuilding your credit rating. To do this rebuilding, you need to periodically get a report on your credit rating. Anything that is a negative on the report needs to be addressed, paid, or removed as an unjustified charge or entry. You can also place comments on your credit report.

Generally, even after a bankruptcy, credit card companies and lenders are still willing to do business with you, although at higher interest rates or with greater security posted. This author experience complete disaster in 2007, and still owe taxes despite the total loss. This author went from a credit rating of almost 800 to the mid-400s. Yet, following the bankruptcy, this author has already been receiving offers of credit from various credit card companies. It does not cause too much worry that the credit rating has fallen so dramatically; after all there are millions of others who share that situation. Keeping in mind that credit ratings can be restored to a healthy level with just a year or two of on time payments and no further judgments, one can go forward.

There are a number of ways to get a free credit report. First and foremost, apply for credit anywhere. If you are denied credit following that application, federal law mandates that you can request a free credit report and the credit reporting agencies must comply. Another option is to sign up for one of the many credit reporting services, which customarily charge a fee and give you reports whenever anything new is placed on your record, good or bad. There are the three big credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. Most credit reporting services will provide you with a compilation of all three. It is a good idea to check them against one another, to see if there are any discrepancies. Any entry that is incorrect or invalid is an entry you can challenge by either phone or mail with the company.

Any credit rating errors that are not removed can be taken to an attorney who deals with credit issues. The federal laws regarding credit rating policies are stringent: companies are not permitted to place negatives on credit reports which are clearly unfounded. A letter to the agency from an attorney can set the matter straight fairly quickly. Credit ratings are like that giant school reports in the sky, looming over our lives. You can keep yours from casting a cloud over your life by regularly checking your credit report and addressing any troublesome entries. The economic disasters of the recent years need not haunt you indefinitely from your credit report. You can rebuild a sound record, but only if you know where the starting point is and where you want to get to in terms of your credit score. A good rating is the mid-700s. If your rating is in the 500s or lower, then it is time to get to work monitoring the credit report and building a better rating. Get started today and by a year from now you will find yourself in much better credit circumstances. Keep your goal in mind, and check your credit frequently as you rebuild.