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A consumer's credit report has varied uses these days for a mixture of items, many more things than it was originally designed for. At first, it was only used, as the name connotes, to reflect how you were doing with credit that was given to you in terms of your outstanding, were you making payments on time, etc. But credit reports are used for many more things now, including being used to set what your car insurance rate should be, where the car insurance companies claim that individuals with lower credit scores make more claims from a historical viewpoint. Many employers run a credit check on possible new hires before making them a final offer as well. But there are some critical things you must be conscious of considering your credit report which are not immediately obvious, which can make your credit score look pretty bad even if your credit in reality might be close to excellent; i.e.: * Your credit report in all likelihood contains errors. Errors sneak into your credit report and they just stay there. They do not self-adjust, and they only go away if you really find them and challenge them. Your credit report may reflect a charged-off account that belongs to someone else for instance. * Credit reports consist of much more than credit information these days. They also include your employer, your yearly salary, how long you have worked there and a horde of other information. Once again, if this information is not correct, your resulting credit score is in all likelihood lower than it truly should be. * Your credit report, from a fiscal perspective, tracks your TREND of how you handle credit. Even if you had troubles a few years ago but have since cleaned up your credit act, the TREND is that you now have things together and the result is going to give you a higher score. * Make your monthly payments ahead of time. One of the worst things for a potential lender to see on a consumer's credit report is that he or she is late with payments. The fact is that maybe you weren't late with payments, but here is what happens: your payment is due on the 10th of the month. You mail in your payment on the 6th of the month, and it arrives on the 9th or 10th. But it does not count as you having actually MADE that payment until it is posted to your account, and depending on the workload, that could take another few days. Make your payment earlier so you don't get dinged for late payments. Your best choice is to obtain copies of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, which are TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. You are entitled to a free report annually. Go over them with a fine tooth comb and ensure that everything listed there is correct, and if it isn't, get a challenge started straightaway. Keep an eye on your credit report and keep it as clean as possible. Doing so will give you the best chances of having a sparkling credit report with as high a credit score as possible,especially when you need it the most. For more insights and additional information about your Credit Report as well as finding a wealth of information about how to improve your credit score and get free copies of your credit reports, please visit our web site at http://www.credit-help-center.com
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