| Under specific provisions of the U.S. Fair Credit | | | | Immediately Request Corrections to Any Errors: If you |
| Reporting Act, a free FICO score credit report is your | | | | have not ordered your credit report in a while, it is likely |
| right as a U.S. citizen. | | | | that there are one or more errors on your report. |
| Obtaining your copy of your report is an important | | | | There may be errors regarding your payment history, |
| step toward improving your score. Your free report will | | | | your identity, your address history, or other information. |
| reveal your current score as it is calculated by the | | | | Be sure to have these errors corrected immediately |
| three nationwide credit reporting agencies. All three | | | | by contacting the reporting agency directly. |
| agencies use the same formula to calculate your | | | | Monitor Your Score Regularly: You can obtain your |
| score, but variations in your score will arise from | | | | free report once every 12 months. However, there are |
| agency to agency given that each of them has | | | | many legitimate Web sites that for a fee will offer you |
| access to slightly different information about your | | | | the opportunity to monitor your credit scores on a |
| financial background. | | | | monthly basis. Some will even send you automated |
| Improving your score by just 50 points can save you | | | | updates when there are significant changes to your |
| thousands of dollars annually in reduced debt | | | | score. Signing up for these monitoring services is a |
| payments. The reason for this is that the interest rates | | | | wise way to keep tabs on your financial health. |
| for which you qualify for large loans like home or auto | | | | Work to Improve Your Score: There are a number of |
| loans are based directly upon your credit score; a | | | | things you can do to improve your credit score. In |
| better score can mean literally saving hundreds per | | | | addition to correcting obvious errors, a recommended |
| month in debt payments. | | | | initial action is to work with creditors to clear up |
| Here is what to look for when ordering your report: | | | | past-due payments and have mention of them |
| Order from the Only Authorized Source: The United | | | | removed from your report. |
| States Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) guarantees | | | | Your credit report works like a financial bill of health |
| your right as a U.S. citizen to a free FICO score credit | | | | that creditors use to determine how much they will |
| report. However, only a single source is actually | | | | charge you for loans or even to determine your |
| authorized to generate your free report: the Annual | | | | eligibility for loans. Take advantage of your right as a |
| Credit Report Request service. This is a service | | | | U.S. citizen to obtain your free credit report. Then, do |
| implemented jointly by the Big Three credit bureaus. | | | | what is necessary to improve your score. Doing so is |
| You can find more information about this service by | | | | literally money in your pocket. |
| doing a search online. | | | | |