Regularly checking your credit report is an essential part of maintaining your financial health. It gives you a chance to zero in on what debts you still owe and alerts you to signs of fraud or identify theft.
But the actual process of pulling your credit history isn’t totally straightforward. Here’s how to check your credit report.
[See: 12 Habits to Help You Take Control of Your Credit.]
Start in the right place. Head to annualcreditreport.com where you can pull three free credit reports each year, one from each of the three credit-reporting bureaus.
Before you pull your credit report, decide whether you want to view just one or all three at once. Consider pulling all three if this is your first time accessing your credit report, says Gerri Detweiler, head of market education for Nav, a credit service for business owners, based in San Mateo, California. That way, you can catch all errors before they do any further damage to your credit health. “The next year, if you want to start staggering them, I think that’s fine as long as you’re monitoring your credit scores with all three bureaus,” she says.
You can also request your report via phone or mail. While these methods might not be as user-friendly as the online system, they are available for those who want to use them.
[See: 12 Simple Ways to Raise Your Credit Score.]
Get your information together. You’re going to need some basic information on hand — or in your head — before you can access your credit history. The credit report site will ask you for personal details, including your name, birth date, Social Security number and address. You’ll select which credit bureau — Equifax, Experian or TransUnion — you’d like to provide your report.
Next, you’ll be asked to answer some verification questions to confirm your identity and deter would-be fraudsters. You may be asked to answer multiple-choice questions about previous employers, credit card debt and other personal loan information. These questions can be surprisingly tricky, and you may get tripped up. “If you have an older credit report that you can refer to, that can be a good resource,” Detweiler says. Don’t forget, she adds, that “none of the above” is often an option in these multiple-choice verification tests, and it may be the right answer.
If you fail this verification step, you may be directed to request your credit report through the mail.
Read the report. After accessing your credit report, print it, says Rod Griffin, director of public education for Experian. If you don’t have a printer handy, download the report, so that you have a digital copy on file.
While it may be 25 pages long, filled with numbers and unfamiliar names, don’t be intimidated by your credit report. “You don’t need any sort of special training to read a report,” Griffin says.
As you scroll through your credit history, you should see your personal information, including name, current and previous addresses and telephone number. The report will list previous and current debt, including student loans, credit card debt, mortgage debt, auto loans and more.
Scroll through to see a list of hard inquiries on your credit report, which you should recognize from previous credit card, auto loan, mortgage and other debt applications. These stay on your file for a couple of years. You will also see soft inquiries, or promotional inquiries, from companies looking to offer you some form of credit or insurance. You may not recognize these, but don’t fret. Promotional inquiries are only visible to you and don’t affect your score.
If you see an error on your credit report — a debt you don’t recognize or an unfamiliar name or address — you can initiate a dispute with the credit-reporting bureau.
You might be surprised by what’s absent from your free credit report: your credit score. If you want to check your credit score, you’ll have to do that separately. Try heading to sites such as Credit Karma, Credit.com and Credit Sesame, which may hand out free scores (in exchange for registering with your personal information). Your credit card issuer may also include a credit score with your regular statement.
[See: What to Do If You’ve Fallen (Way) Behind on Your Credit Card Payments.]
Prepare for the next time. Now that you’ve downloaded your credit report, note on your calendar when you can request your next one — in four months (if you requested one report) or a year (if you requested all three at once). If you’ve noticed an issue with fraud or identity theft, it might be worth springing for a credit-monitoring service, Detweiler says. If not, then you should expect to continue pulling your free annual credit report from each of the bureaus in the future.
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How to Check Your Credit Report originally appeared on usnews.com
