Check Credit Report Free Online

When it comes to checking your credit report for free online, there are several different options available to you. You can essentially go one of two routes.

First: go to annualcreditreport.com to get the official government mandated free version of your credit report. When you hear people talking about the "free credit report" that you're entitled to by federal law, this is the only site they're discussing.

Second: you can choose to go to one of many other sites that typically offer you something on top of your credit report. Frequently what they'll give you is a credit monitoring service for an additional monthly fee. These services can be vital for making sure that your information is kept up to date.

Quite simply, your credit report is the most important document in your financial life. Whenever someone decides whether or not you are credit worthy they will look at your credit report and score to make that determination.

Now, you may already have a good idea of what bills you've paid late and what your general credit situation is. Maybe you're thinking that it isn't important for you to look at your credit report since you already know what's on it. This is the wrong way of thinking about it.

The biggest reason you should check your credit report is because very frequently information is incorrect on that report. There are three major credit reporting bureaus in the nation. The names of these credit reporting bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. All of your credit information is stored by these three bureaus. Monthly reports to these three entities are made by anyone that has given you a credit card, mortgage, auto loan, or other major extension of credit.

With all of this information streaming in, it's common for things to get mixed up. Sometimes bad information from other people will mistakenly end up on your credit report. You'll frequently see old debts that have been properly paid off still showing up on your report. These are the things you want to look out for and make sure they are corrected.

All of the major credit bureaus have simple online forms that allow you to dispute errors.  Once you have found your credit report and looked it over, you'll want to immediately start working to resolve any misinformation.  The dispute resolution process typically takes around 30 days (this is the maximum timeframe that creditors have to respond to your dispute).

Fixing bad information on your credit report can have a MAJOR impact on your credit score.  This could potentially save you thousands of dollars on future interest payments when you apply for new credit.

Unfortunately, your credit score is not something that you can see for free.  You'll have to pay one of the three bureaus if you want to look at the score that they keep on file.

Credit scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 900.  Anything below a 500 is generally considered very poor credit.  Above an 800 is stellar credit.  Average tends to fall in the mid 600s.  What you really want to shoot for is getting a score above 720.  Once you hit 720 you're usually offered the best terms for credit.

Do you want to check credit report information online and have further questions?  Feel free to ask in the section below.  Thanks!