Why You Should Check Your Free Credit Report Often

Checking your credit report often is the single most important thing you can do to maintain financial health and live the lifestyle you want to live... If you want to buy a home, a car, a vacation house, start a business, and in some cases even when you apply for a job your personal credit report is accessed. There are many ramifications to having a good credit report. It can make it easier for you to buy a home or open a line of credit. It can also ensure that you get favorable terms on the loans you are granted.

Your credit report contains all of the information about your credit history since the first time you took out a loan or opened credit card. It shows information like what kind of credit you have, or have had, and if you made your payments on time. For credit cards, it shows how high a balance you carried on the card. Along with this credit information is a list of places where you've worked and places you've lived. Along with your credit history you get a credit score, which is sometimes called your FICO score. Credit score range from 300 to 900, with 900 being perfect credit. Having a low credit score in the 300's can automatically make you ineligible for many types of loans. Checking your credit report often is your first step to keeping your personal credit score high.


With all of the ramifications of credit report scoring, the importance of checking your credit report often cannot be stressed enough. If you check your credit before a major purchase you may find that your score is better then you thought. Having this knowledge will help you to shop around for a loan with terms that are what you want them to be- not what the creditors think will make them the most money.


On top of this, checking your credit report often is your strongest tool against the dangers of identity theft. If your identity has been stolen any lines of credit opened by the thieves will be visible on your credit report. The sooner you find these unauthorized transactions, the less damage can be done to your credit. The sooner you find suspicious activity the sooner you can freeze those accounts and stop those thieves from causing more damage under your name.


Luckily, because of the widely recognized importance of checking your credit report, the process is easier to do than ever. Federal law gives consumers the right to a free credit report once a year. Some states, and some special circumstances, grant the right to a free credit report more often than once a year. Personal credit reports can usually be accessed online in an instant from any one of, or all three of, the credit reporting bureaus; Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union.