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5 Ways Poor Credit Scores Costs You Extra Money
Most of us want a good credit report to obtain automobile
financing, credit cards, and to purchase a home. But, beyond
these consumer loans, your credit report can cost you in
everyday living expenses. What you don't know about your credit
could...
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there are a plethora of lenders to choose from when you browse
the Internet for merchant account services. But what are you
really looking for? Do you want an enhanced business...
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Refinancing vs line of credit are two popular options you have when deciding the best way to take equity out of your home. Sometimes it makes sense to establish a line of credit. But in other situations it's better to get a cash back refinance...
So you want to get free airline tickets: Should you get a travel reward or cash back credit card?
Travel or Cash Back Credit Cards? If you want to use a reward credit card for getting free airline tickets, you have a choice of choosing a dedicated airline credit card, a travel reward credit card or a cash back credit card. A dedicated...
The Christmas Temptation - Department Store Credit Cards
Now that we are heading at breakneck speed to the peak retail season (ie Christmas), you will soon, if you are not already, be wondering what to do about all those gifts and other expenses that need to be catered for in the holiday season. November...
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Credit Reports - Errors Can Be Costly
In today's society, we can't function without credit. We need it to pay bills, borrow money, and to buy our homes and cars. A luxury of the current age is that credit is often granted easily and quickly, a result of years of automation and refining of record keeping. The glue that holds it all together is the credit report, a document made available to lenders by the three major credit bureaus. When an individual applies for credit or a loan, the lender can see the financial history of the applicant and make a decision quickly. But what if the information on that person's credit report is wrong?
It turns out that more often than not, the information contained on a credit report may not be accurate. While most mistakes are simple ones, such as address problems, others are more serious. Here are a few examples:
<Li>Mistaken identity - People with similar names or dates of birth are occasionally confused by the system, which can lead to credit reports that have completely erroneous entries. If you live in Minneapolis and have lived there all of your life, it would be pretty shocking to see your credit report indicate that you have defaulted on your mortgage on a home in Miami. Sometimes it's even worse than that; some individuals have had problems obtaining loans because their credit reports indicated that they
were dead! </Li>
<Li>Administration errors - Sometimes correct information gets entered incorrectly. A bill paid on time and in full might be recorded as only partially paid. An open account may be shown as closed. A loan paid in full may be recorded as in default. Sometimes these are human mistakes and sometimes they are computer errors. </Li>
<Li>Identity theft - A problem caused when someone obtains your personal information and obtains credit or loans by posing as you. This is one of the most difficult problems to fix, and it often takes more than a year to even find out that you have been victimized.</Li>
The best way to fix these problems is to be vigilant. Check your credit report often and report errors as soon as you find them. The longer you wait to report a mistake, the harder it will be to repair since paperwork and other documentation often gets misplaced over time. A few minutes spent check your report once or twice a year may save you hundreds of hours of work later.
About the Author
None©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to establishing credit, debt consolidation and credit counseling.
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| Credit Reports - Credit Cards - Car Loans - Home Loans - Credit.com |
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| Equifax Personal Solutions: Credit Reports, Credit Scores ... |
| National consumer credit reporting company that offers credit reports, FICO(R) credit scores and identity theft protection products to consumers and small ... |
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| The FTC's web site on Credit |
| Credit is much more than a piece of plastic, and the resources on this site can help you become a more savvy consumer. You’ll also find compliance ... |
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| Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Credit Center |
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| AnnualCreditReport |
| Site set up by the big three credit reporting agencies in the United States, to furnish free annual credit reports, as required by federal law. |
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| Springboard - Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management |
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| myFICO - FICO Credit Scores, Online Credit Reports and Identity ... |
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| Credit Suisse Global |
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| An independent federal agency that supervises and insures 7152 federal credit unions and insures 4240 state-chartered credit unions. |
| www.ncua.gov |
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| Credit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debits and Credits, a type of bookkeeping entry; Credit (creative arts), acknowledging the ideas or ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit" ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Credit (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Any movement of financial capital is normally quite dependent on credit, ... Sometimes if a person has financial instability or difficulty, credit is not ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| The National Foundation for Credit Counseling |
| DebtAdvice.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit ... |
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| FreeCreditReport.com | Free Credit Report and Credit Score Online ... |
| FreeCreditReport.com: Free credit reports and credit scores from Experian. Get your free credit report and credit score now. It's free, fast, and easy! |
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| The Credit Card Prank |
| In my lifetime, I have made nearly 15000 credit card transactions. ... Credit card signatures are a useless mechanism designed to make you feel safe, ... |
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| Credit magazine, corporate bonds, derivatives, structured credit ... |
| Credit magazine provides information on the international credit markets for credit investors, issuers and market professionals. |
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| CUNA: The Credit Union National Association |
| News and resource directory about credit unions. |
| www.cuna.org |
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| Credit/Debt Management - Tools and Advice for Managing Credit and Debt |
| Drowning in debt? Trying to improve your credit score? This is the place for you. Get real world information and tips, as well as the legal low down, ... |
| credit.about.com |
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