Why Should You Have a Credit Report Copy?
The basic idea of a credit report is to check your financial standing, according to which lenders decide your credibility for approval of your loan requests for any of your major purchases, like to buy a car, house, or insurance. Credit report can also be accessed by employers when you apply for a job and a bad credit report may become your hindrance in achieving a successful career.
Hence, given below are some of the main reasons why it is essential for you to have a copy of credit report:
- To ensure complete, accurate, and up-to-date information – Any missed transaction, or outdated information can make a huge difference in your credit report. For instance, you have made the payment of your credit card bill on time but the credit card company might not have forwarded that information to the credit bureaus. As a result, your credit score may have dropped considerably, causing you to get higher interest rates when you apply for any loan. A copy of your credit report can help you trace this discrepancy, inform the matter to the credit bureaus and get it fixed.
- To understand credit repair measures that would be beneficial for you – A credit report copy provides you a detailed knowledge of how each of your financial habits is affecting your credit score. So, you might be doing something that you think is absolutely harmless, like applying for loans or credit cards. But this would be added in your report as credit report inquiries. The more the inquiries, the lower your credit score can get. This is because higher number of credit inquiries is taken to be an indication that you might be struggling a lot financially, or might be in a lot of debt. It doesn’t matter if you have actually used the credit or got the loan approval or not.
- Protection from identity theft – A quick access to the credit report copy can alert you to any suspicious activity in your account and act on it before it is too late. Account hijacking or credit card fraud can commonly be sited in this regard. In such cases usually, your personal information (including your name, your credit card number and Social Security Number) is utilized by identity thieves to get a new credit card with your name. And as they do not pay the bills, it starts to show in your credit report. Hence, the sooner you track such fraudulent activities, the better it is.
- To know how lenders view your credit report - Viewing your credit report gives you a perfect picture of the way lenders will view your credit history. It will thereby save you a lot of time to not apply for a mortgage loan for which you aren’t eligible for, because of a low credit score.
- Shop around for best interest rates – In case you have your updated credit report copy and have a higher credit score, you can shop around for the best possible interest rates. So, higher credit score = lower interest rates as every lender would be keen to provide you money.
You can gain complimentary access to the credit report from the three major credit bureaus once a year. Nevertheless, it is advisable to have a frequent vigilance of your ever changing credit report for immediate action against any discrepancy or suspicious activity.