Is There Anything I Can Do To Improve My Credit History ?.
Q: I had an AT&T credit card long ago...I was a bit late paying the money to them a couple of months... But I cancelled the card since I felt that they were too aggressive in trying to collect their balance. I used to get "threatening sounding" letters regarding my balance which wouldn't be more than $50. Now however they seem to have given me a bad credit report...and I cannot get a new credit card even after 3 years. I tried to get a copy of my credit report from equafax or something...but they want all sorts of copies of my social security card, drivers license.. whether I am Jr or Sr or Sr I or Sr II etc.. Is there anything I can do to improve my credit history ?. Also Where can I get a copy of my credit report...without so many problems...
A: -If memory serves me correctly, anytime you are denied credit, the credit company (who denied you) is required to give you the report if you ask. -I don't think you can get your credit records without providing all kinds of verification info. Supposedly it should protect you from other people pretetnding to be you and getting your record. (In reality, those who need to get your records in order to commit crime will do it anyway) If however you were denied credit recently, the credit agency MUST give you a free report. I did it several times it was not that difficult. Also, you said that you have bad info on your record for 3 years. If that it so, you should ask the agency to remove it. I believe (and I may be wrong) that the negative info (besides bankruptcy) stays on your record for only two years. -If you have been denied credit lately, whoever denied it should send you a notice and you can use that to get a free report from your local credit bureau within a specific number of days. You will probably still need to give certain identification so they can verify your identity--this is to protect you. Then, you are allowed to write a "To Whom It May Concern" letter and send it to the credit bureau. In this you can explain that you did pay each month, etc. Then whenever someone asks for a credit report, that information has to be included as well. A few years ago, we decided to buy a house. Both my husband and I have excellent credit records. There was a problem though. My EX has a terrible credit record and they were trying to report that on my record. We had been divorced when he got himself in trouble and I had cut up and returned all my cards with letters before the divorce. At that time, I found out they can now keep such stuff (this was a credit card problem--only one company gave me any hassle, the others gave excellent service, needless to say, I never go there EVER) for seven years before it is deleted if the company so desires. So I recommend writing the letter, etc. It should help. I learned a lot of neat things like that while doing finance counseling as a volunteer with a community service organization. If you have any proof that you did pay monthly (cancelled checks, monthly bills with the amount received noted on them, etc.), photocopies of those might help your case. -No, your memory doesn't serve you at all. The lender is required to give you a reason for denying credit to you. Which in most cases will consist of a pat phrase like "does not represent acceptable credit risk" or "does not qualify under our credit policies". Both of which simply means "we don't want to do business with folks like you". In fact, most credit reporting agencies have a clause in their terms of service stating specifically that the lender is _not_ to show you the report. If you want to see your credit report, you have to go to the credit reporting agency, such as Equifax, TRW, etc ... The reason for this is that the credit reporting agency can discuss their records with you and if necessary change them to correspond with the facts. Your lender has no such access, he can only read the records and bears no responsiblity for what the reporting agency says. -I checked out the web page, wondering how they were going to be able to give me a credit report through e-mail and/or their web page...sure enough, you phone the "800" number, which then routes you to voice mail information on what to send them by snail mail. No one is going to do a credit check without proof of ID and a signature...Not Nobody, Not No How...to do so is a Big Bad No-No. They claim that they will give you a "free annual credit report". I like the idea of "free". Why would they do this? Well...I am adding to their data base by