Whether it's for a new credit card, a mortgage or a lease, sooner or later you are going to apply for credit! It is precisely this reason that you need to take charge of your credit rating now! Thanks to the new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) act, you are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus( which you must obtain from a joint source the agencies have set up). It it up to you to monitor your score to par. that minimal effort on your part will pay off in significantly lower interest rates and decreased damage from identity theft.
Your credit report is simply a listing of how much credit you currently have available, how much debt you have and how well you've met your payment obligations in the past, but it is the key to your standing with potential lenders. Managing you credit involves scrutinizing your reports regularly for errors, reviewing them for signs of outside tampering and working to improve areas where your payment record is less than stellar.
since the FACT act went into effect, the source for free credit reports is
www.annualcreditreport.com877-322-8228
This is a centralized service created jointly by the three leading credit bureaus:
Equifax800-685-1111
Transunion900-916-8800
Experian888-397-3742
