Personal Finance

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As a younger adult, you wonder how to improve your credit score or ever get credit if no one will trust you to give you credit! Many start out with student loans right off the bat and take a hit when circumstances happen along the way. I have learned of a few things to help and a few things that hurt credit scores that you would not believe! Now in this age of economy woes, many families are being hard hit with gas and food prices making paying off debts lower on their list of priorities.

One hint is to keep an eye on your credit by getting free credit reports from all three credit report agencies! You are eligible to get at least ONE credit report from each one of them every year. You can also get them free if you are denied credit or if you suspect a problem (stolen ID, mistake, to make sure something has fallen off). Yes you can purchase credit reports but in most cases, there is no need! You can call to order, mail in to order, or get instant access on their website. I have had issues getting my Experian credit report online every time and had to call in for support. For some reason, the site does not recognize me.

So what is shown on your credit report? You can see how many people and who has checked your credit in the past.

Your names, change of name, address, old addresses, and other personal information is listed. They get this information, not from you most of the time, but from your creditors. This is how I noticed a mistake on a relative’s report. A name was listed such as Harry J. Borgel and my friend’s name was Harry M. Borgel. Once we noticed this, we looked and found a debt that he did not recognize….with one call, we were able to get them to look into it and erase it from his credit report! No he did not buy the air conditioning unit that cost $2000!

Revolving lines of credit in good standing show the balance and at least two years of the account. These are actually good for your credit history even with $0 balance. I was told not to close out one account that was revolving as it was good for my credit score. This shows that you have paid regularly each month and not been late. A credit history over time of revolving credit lines show you are trustworthy and repay your debts over long periods of time.

Loans or credit that has been paid off stay on your account too. So if you were late on payments, this affects your credit even after they are paid off. Paying off this debit will not improve your credit score if you were late multiple times on the account.

Loans and debts that are not paid off are shown as well with the balance owed.

Delinquent accounts are shown together with the amount of time…if you were 30 days late or 90 days late, etc. These also do not fall off once paid off….they stay on your credit report for years.

Most all of the items will have the name of the creditor, their address, and phone number so you can call if you think it was a mistake or the item was paid off. I had one that did not update and showed a balance when I had paid it off a few months prior.

Also shown is where you have applied for credit. If it looks like you are applying for many credit lines, you may be denied credit. You also have to watch as everywhere you apply, this can cause a small ding to your credit score! One will not cause it to fall but a few will make it fall a small amount.

Some creditors will not show on your credit report. If you are trying to boost your credit score by taking out a loan and making payments on time, make sure the creditor reports to the credit bureaus. Some do not! Many buy-here-pay-here car lots do not report so will not show you in good standing and will not help your score at all. Some furniture places that let you buy on credit also do not report!

The site offers a free trial for a credit management system that keeps an eye on changes to your credit and will alert you…this costs $79 a year after the free trial. You can report fraud on the site as well as ask questions about an inaccuracy on your report.

You can alert them if you suspect someone is using your ID and they will put an alert on your credit report. I have done this and it was simple to do. So any new accounts set up, they were alerted that it was not me as I was not opening any new accounts. This is good if you lose your purse or are a victim of identity theft. After putting the alert on my credit report, I felt much better and less worried that this would be a problem if someone was using my identity to take out loans as I knew it would be taken care of quickly. So far so good!

Not all credit report agencies will give you your credit score, Experian does! Don’t expect fast changes in your score once you improve your credit. It happens slowly over time gradually. So even if you pay everything off, this may even lower your score! Your credit score is based on your credit trustworthiness over time to pay your debts on time. Never trust any agency who claims to be able to repair your credit, it just doesn’t happen like that! The best you can do is work something out with your creditors to lower payments when you get in a bind. Most do want to work with you so they get paid. Remember debts fall off after a certain length of time (7 years I think) so if you keep track of this and ask Experian to remove those items after that time, the bad debts will not show. For bankruptcy and other types of debts, it is 10 years I believe. Most importantly, keep an eye on your credit history by getting the free reports. If something is wrong, contact the credit agency right away to fix it.

What is so good about THIS agency?

Free credit reports, fraud alerts, fast action on inaccuracies

What is unique about this agency?

Gives credit score.

Is it worth the price?

Free!

There has to be some bad to this agency, right?

No quick fixes to make credit score higher.

Any warnings people should be aware of?

None

Final verdict:

Experian is one of the three credit agencies that give you your free credit reports each year. I have had good experiences with them!

pablo the shopper

A man in debt is so far a slave. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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