Do You Know What Your Credit Score Is???

Did you know that many people actually don't know their own credit score?  I know, it's crazy!  I cannot emphasize the importance of getting your credit score at least once a year from one of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion).  After all, it is your right to obtain a FREE yearly credit score under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) from one of these companies. Obtaining your credit score empowers you to dispute any inaccuracies on your credit profile as well as fight identity theft.  A recent study released by the US Public Interest Research Group in 2004 found that 79% of consumer credit reports surveyed contained some kind of error or mistake (citation). Without your knowledge of its existence, how can you address any of these inaccuracies on your credit history?

So what is a credit score?  Your credit score is a number (statistically based upon lending/credit history) that represents your "worthiness" to obtain a future line of credit in any field.  There are different methods of calculating credit scores.  The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) is the most widely used type of credit score.  It's score ranges anywhere from 300 (poor) to 850 (excellent); with 723 being the American National Average.  Any score below 620 categorizes an individual to be a risk borrower, 640-650 being good, and above 690 to be excellent.  If you find yourself below the 620 range, then you might find it difficult to obtain credit cards, loans, own a home, own a car, make low interest purchases, etc.

If you are on this blog and are reading this, then your first and foremost call to action is to get your credit score from one of the three agencies mentioned above.  This is the first step you need to take in order to free yourself from financial debt, fix your credit history/score, and find some relief in your life.  You can order your FREE credit report/score under the FCRA here.  Do it before it's too late...

Once you have your credit score and a detailed report of your past credit history, you will find peace of mind, as well as be able to identify underlying issues and problems that have plagued you.  With the problem identified, you can then address the next phase (depending on your situation) necessary to obtain good credit.  This next phase will concern the different things you can do to prevent fraud, maintain your good standing, get a loan to pay off debt, or clean up your credit score.

I will post these different actions you can execute on subsequent posts, one post at a time.  So let's move on shall we :-)