Are you looking to buy a new home this spring? If you require a loan to purchase your dream home, it’s important that you know your credit history, have an understanding of your credit report and credit score prior to applying for a loan. Borrowers with the best credit reports and a high FICO score will be offered the lowest rates from the lenders.
200 million people in America have a credit report created under their social security number. However, according to Steve Kroft, reporter on Sixty Minutes news report, over 40 million Americans have mistakes on their credit report. Some of these are hard to remove, but in order to know your credit report; I feel you need to research your credit history.
If you want to learn more about the mistakes with credit reporting, you may want to view the entire CBS report for more complete information credit reporting mistakes. You can check your credit report at no cost by going to annualcreditreport.com, as all consumers are entitled to their reports once a year.
At this site, you can get reports from all three credit reporting agencies; Transunion, Experian and Equifax. If you find errors on your reports, you will need to contact each of these companies directly in order to file a dispute. You can file out a dispute online through their websites, by calling their 800 numbers or by writing to their mailing addresses.
If you want to challenge your credit report and don’t get satisfaction from the companies, you may want to contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which monitors credit reports. To file a complaint, you can write to: FTC, Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580 or by visiting their website.
One interesting fact to know for those who get married, your credit report stays the same. The only information on both spouse’s reports are joint accounts or those for which one spouse is an authorized user.
Before beginning your house search with your Realtor it’s important to meet with a lender, so you can determine your credit score and if there are errors on your credit report, you can seek the assistance of credit repair agencies to improve your credit score and thus improve the interest rate the lenders will offer you.
Beverly Taki is a Missouri-licensed real estate broker who has successfully represented clients for 25 years. She is a broker salesperson at Keller Williams Realty St Louis. 10936 Manchester Road, St. Louis, MO 63122. Beverly has earned a certificate in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University, specializing in negotiation and mediation. Taki can be reached at beverlytaki@kw.com or 314-677-6366. Her website is beverlytakistlouis.com.
