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Home >> Manage Your Money >> Debt Management
Why You Should Review Your Credit Report
I hear a lot about reviewing my credit report, what do I need to do, and why?
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 Your credit report is a record of your credit history, who you owe, your habit or paying back loans and how much you owe. It also has confidential information on you personally such as your social security number, date of birth, address, employer and more.
In the wrong hands this information can be used to commit identity theft. People would pose as you and borrow funds or open accounts in your name. They may even get a job as you, and leave you with increased tax liabilities.
Reviewing your credit report helps ensure that the information is correct. This means that when you do want credit, there won't be information in your file that isn't yours, or is a mistake. You will see who has inquired about your credit. If you haven't been applying for credit this is a red flag you should inquire about, and if you see lenders shown whom you haven't borrowed from, you may be the victim of identity theft. Knowing about problems early will help you stop them from becoming bigger problems, and will also give you more time to correct them before they adversly affect you more.
You are entitled to one free copy of your credit report each year. There are three major credit reporting companies who will provide these to you.
Equifax
TransUnion
Experian
You can request your free report on this annualcreditreport.com website or by calling 877-322-8228. You can mail a request to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281 as well. Order from only one of these companies at a time and space your requests four months apart. These credit reports will be very similar even though they are from different companies. The source of their information is the same, the lenders with whom you have accounts. By spacing out your requests you will see the more recent activity and your reports will each be free since each company is obligated to provide these. Remember though, ony one per year from each is free. There are vendors who will monitor your credit report with your authorization and notify you when there is activity. This may be an expense worthwhile to you or it may be a needless expense. You should order your first report and make that determination for yourself.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 7/28/06
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