- Web: www.annualcreditreport.com
- Phone: 1-877-322-8228 (You will go through a verification process over the phone and your reports will be mailed to you.)
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Mail: You must fill out the request form (requires free Adobe viewer. Download the free Adobe viewer ). Mail the form to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service P.O. Box 105281 Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
| What's on my credit report? Companies that loan money look at your credit report to determine if you will pay it back on time. This is why it’s important to look at your credit report to make sure it doesn’t have any mistakes. And if you have a bad credit history, paying on time can improve your credit report and your credit rating. Information on your credit report comes from companies that have loaned you money. National credit reporting agencies, also known as credit bureaus, organize the information and keep credit reports on file. Credit reports will also list public record information such as tax liens and bankruptcies. How can I check my credit report? You have the right to order copies of your own credit report. There are three major credit bureaus, all of which may contain different information about you. Thanks to a new law, you can receive one free copy of each of their credit reports every year. You can also get a free copy of your credit report if you have been denied a loan. Here is the telephone number, mailing address, and web address for getting your free credit report. What’s a credit score? A credit score is a number that summarizes the credit information reported about you. This number can change as the elements in a credit report change. This number tells a lender how likely you are to repay a loan, or make credit payments on time. A higher score means a better chance of having a credit or loan request approved. There are many different credit scores used in the financial service industry. Scores may be different from lender to lender (or from car loan to mortgage loan), depending on the type of credit-scoring model used. All credit bureau scores and lender credit scores are not the same. A credit score used by a lender to make a decision around a home loan may have different information or be weighted differently than a credit score developed to be used for credit card offers. Many lenders develop models that are then kept as “trade secrets” - they will not share the specific “recipe” with anyone. Credit scores are based on information contained in your credit report. Therefore, it is very important that your credit report be accurate because your credit score will change as your credit report changes. For example, if you stop paying a loan, your credit score will go down or if you begin paying all of your bills on time, your score will increase. Most credit scoring systems consider a variety of factors described in the following chart.
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