You might have heard others say ‘three bureau credit report’ but have you ever questioned just what it is and why it is important?
Within the U. S. the three major credit agency companies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Each one of these non-public companies keeps a credit file on you containing personal info (like your name, address and details of your employment); details of your payment history on Mastercard accounts, mortgages, vehicle loans and other loan arrangements; details of any official records concerning your finances (like notices of insolvency and court judgments) and details of any inquires made to the company by creditors concerning your money standing.
As well as the credit file maintained on you, each company also uses its own formula to work out a credit report for you which is intended to give potential banks a suggestion of your credit suitability and therefore of the risk that they would be taking if they were to grant you a loan or extend credit to you.
It is important to understand that these three companies all operate independently of one another and therefore the info held by each, and the credit report figured out by each, may very well differ. Generally, most major banks,eg banks and Visa card companies, furnish info to all three companies but many smaller banks,eg local department stores which issue their own store cards, may well only provide info to one of the three companies.
You are entitled to request a copy of your credit score from each one of these companies annually free of charge and more frequently if you wish for a charge. But to make life a little simpler it’s also feasible to obtain a three bureau credit report which enables you to view the contents of all three credit reports in a single document.
So, why is this important?
The contents of your credit report files will define whether you are able to obtain credit in the future maybe to get a house, a new auto or help to pay for a child’s school education. What might be worse than trying for a loan to buy your new dream home to find that you are turned down because of your credit history?
Building and managing a good credit score should be a vital part of your total financial planning all though life and this means ensuring that you’ve got the best possible credit report on file with each of the three credit agent companies.
Your starting point should therefore be to obtain a three bureau credit report and check the info now recorded is true. Companies do screw up and it’s not unknown for folk with good money standing to have a subprime credit score due to gaffes on their credit score files. You must therefore check the report fastidiously and take steps to correct any mistakes to be certain that your credit files are correct, thereby avoiding the possible need for debt assistance.
Having established that your credit report is correct, or taken steps to fix any inaccuracies, you should then work to achieve the best possible credit score and, most importantly, keep an eye fixed on your credit score be asking for copies of your three bureau credit report at regular intervals.