What is a credit report or credit history?
A credit report shows your history of borrowing and repaying money. This includes any history of paying bills late, criminal records or bankruptcy.
Credit reports are held by a credit report company and can be shown to other people including lenders, banks, or potential landlords.
There are three major credit report companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You should get a copy of your credit report from all three companies because the information may be different on each report.
How can I get a free copy of my credit report?
It's important to know what your credit report looks like. You can see this by getting a free copy of your credit report.
There are three ways you can get a free copy of your credit report:
- Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get your annual credit report online for free
- Call (877) 322-8228
- Send a request to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
PO Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Why should I repair my credit?
Good credit will help you get a loan or mortgage on a house. Bad credit can stop you from getting a loan, a mortgage or renting an apartment.
How do I get "bad credit"?
You can get bad credit by not paying your bills on time. If you owe money to a hospital, clinic, credit card company, or utility company because you made late payments, missed payments, or stopped making payments, you could have bad credit. You should look at your credit report every year to know your credit history.
How can I fix bad credit?
The only way to fix bad credit is to pay all your bills on time and make regular payments on money you owe.
What do I do if there is a mistake on my credit report?
Sometimes there are mistakes on your credit report. You can fix these mistakes by calling the credit report company. For example, your credit report might list an unpaid bill that you paid. To get rid of this mistake, you have to show proof to the credit report company that you paid the bill by showing them a cancelled check or a copy of a money order you used to pay the bill.
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There are some companies, often called credit clinics, that promise to repair your credit. Watch out for these companies- they charge large fees and don’t do anything to repair your credit that you can’t do yourself for little or no money. Try to avoid using credit repair companies.
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More Help
The Fannie Mae Foundation has a free guide "Knowing and Understanding Your Credit." This guide explains how to get good credit and what to do if you have bad credit. Call
(800) 599-5300 to get a copy of this guide or go to
www.homebuyingguide.org.
For free credit counseling, contact the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Atlanta:
Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Atlanta
100 Edgewood Avenue NW, Suite 1800
Atlanta, GA 30303-7662
Phone: (800) 251-2227
