Every person is eligible to get a free annual credit report, which is very much useful.
You should understand its importance and utilize it to derive maximum benefits.
You should remember that the credit rating you get on your report will have an impact on your applications for new loans, refinance credits, etc.
Lenders will use this credit rating not only for deciding whether to approve your loan or not but for fixing the rate of interest on your loans, if they are approved.
The main point is that your credit rating depends upon how you have made your past bill payments, your debt to income ratio and many other factors.
Even when you apply for a new cell phone, alarm system, auto insurance, etc.
, your credit rating will be considered.
If you apply for a new phone or a cable, electrical or gas line, there are chances that your credit rating may be considered for approving them.
If you have a poor credit rating, it is but natural that you may have your own doubts if your applications for new credit cards or loans will be approved or not.
This is because a poor credit score is not viewed favorably by credit card companies and lending institutions.
So, it is necessary that you should take all possible steps to fix your credit score.
For this, this annual report is quite useful.
Not only delayed payments of your bills, but even a loss of job may affect your credit rating.
Some people may be addicted to credit card shopping and this may also impact their credit status.
But, when your credit score gets affected, you can definitely bring it back to normalcy and the foremost step for achieving this is to study your credit report meticulously and understand it completely.
As said earlier, you are eligible for getting a free report every year and this is issued by the credit reporting bureaus.
You can view the reports online also.
There are three major credit reporting bureaus and therefore, you can get three free reports every year.
But, there may be variations in the reports issued by these agencies.
All the lenders do not choose the same bureau or agency for intimating the details of the loans borrowed from them.
But, by studying each one of these reports, you can have a fair idea about your credit status so that you can take further action, if necessary.
Once you are able to view the report, you should first check if any entry that does not pertain to you is there on it.
There may be entries of debts that have not been availed by you.
There may be other errors, wrong recordings, etc.
and you should dispute such entries immediately.
You can send your complaints online also.
By removing such entries, you can gradually improve your credit score.
If you have small loans, you should pay them off first so that the number of loan entries will come down.
If there are loans on which there are large balances, you should start paying the maximum possible amounts and wipe them out as quickly as possible.
If you adopt patience and make the payments consistently, you can get rid of them very soon and your credit rating is sure to improve.