People are often surprised when they receive a denial letter from a lender or insurance company. This is due to the lack of regular credit checks. Ensure that you don’t encounter such a nasty surprise by checking your credit report thoroughly for identity theft and mistakes.
Popular Ways to Perform a Credit Check
You can perform a credit check by requesting for your credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies (CRAs), namely Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
- Send a mail to the CRA: You can send a request for your credit report by mail to all the three CRAs individually. Alternatively, you can mail your request form to annualcreditreport.com for a free copy of your credit file from all the three CRAs once a year.
Mailing address for annualcreditreport.com is
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281
Mailing address for Experian is
P.O. Box 2104,
Allen,
TX 75013
Mailing address for Equifax is
P.O. Box 740241,
Atlanta,
GA 30374-0241
Mailing address for TransUnion is
P.O. Box 2000,
Chester,
PA 19022
- Phone CRAs: You can call any of the three CRAs or Annualcreditreport.com to get your credit report:
Annualcreditreport.com: 877-322-8228
Experian: 888-397-3742
Equifax: 800-685-1111
TransUnion: 800-916-8800
- Through the Internet: You can visit either annualcreditreport.com or the relevant websites individually to obtain credit reports from the three CRAs.
How to Time Credit Checks?
If you are about to apply for a major loan, such as a car or house loan, give yourself time to rectify any mistakes in your credit file or improve on your delinquent accounts. You should perform credit checks:
- At least three to six months before applying for a home mortgage
- Just before you start shopping for a car loan
- Before you apply for credit cards
What to Verify in a Credit Check?
During your credit check, ensure that the following information is correct:
- Your name (including aliases and name after marriage, wherever applicable)
- Social Security Number
- Date of birth
- Addresses of places where you have lived
- Names of firms where you have worked
- Pending and closed accounts
- Records of delinquent payments or other problems
Also, ensure that nothing is displayed in the report for a longer time period that necessary by the law. For example, bankruptcies must be taken off the credit history after ten years. Lawsuits and judgments, tax liens, and other unfavorable information must be dropped after seven years.