Knowing that your credit report is accurate is so so important. When you apply for a credit card, a loan for a car, a loan for a house, the interest rate, or even your approval, is determined by your credit score. Which is determined by the information on your credit report. Which is increasingly inaccurate in this day and age of identity theft. My original inspiration to check mine was when Michelle posted about how someone had bought a house in her name when she was nine-years-old. Despite the obvious error, she still had trouble getting it removed.
So I checked mine. And thank goodness it’s clean. Everything on there is stuff that I have done. In the US, you can check once a year with each of the three crediting agencies: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. You can get the reports for free, no strings attached, at annualcreditreport.com. Heard about it in an interview on the radio. No affiliations. It’s so important to check it out.
You can check for free once a year (as in a 12-month period.) Some people prefer to stagger them every four months…check Experian in January, TransUnion in April, Equifax in August, or some mix like that. That way if something fishy’s going on they catch it right away.
Have you checked your credit report lately? Found anything obscenely wrong? Experiences fighting the man to get it removed?
Haha <3 the office.
I love the use of graphics in this post <3
We order a credit report once a year to make sure nothing is out of whack. It is nice knowing that there is an accurate reflection of your stuff on file.
I should check mine again; thanks for the link to the free government site!
i had mine checked before and apparently the service i used was supposed to be free. the charged me but they did that to a lot of ppl and we all got refunded.
Agreed Miss T! And no problem, Christa! Elle–I know…there are so many sites out there ready to rip you off. But this one is legit, so if you ever find yourself needing one again…I’m glad you got your money back!
Jim looks kinda creepy but sexy at the same time in those glasses lol.
Haha! Wish I had a like button for your comment!
So… Thanks for commenting on my blog. Seriously. I hopped on over to your site, decided to check my credit report for the first time since I applied for a mortgage like 3 years ago, and found what appears to be either a fraudulent account or a duplicate of said mortgage (same date and amount, but different financial institution). It looks like I have twice my actual mortgage debt, SO not cool. Just filed a dispute. 🙂
Geez! I’m so so glad you found it! Hopefully it’ll get resolved quickly and easily, although from what I hear that’s often the exception and not the rule. Good luck and fight them no matter how difficult they make it!
Pingback: How to Protect Your Child’s Identity | Femme Frugality
Pingback: New Year's Resolutions: Clean Up Your Credit Report - Femme Frugality
Pingback: How to Write a Goodwill Letter | Femme Frugality