Fix Bad Credit - Make sure you monitor who’s looking at your credit report and why
Too many inquiries look bad on your credit report, but more than that, you should know who’s looking at your personal financial information.
If you apply for credit or sign a document with a lender, you can bet that someone is looking at your credit report. However, you may want to look over other documents to see who else is taking a peek. For example, Insurance agents will often look at your credit report. Also, some landlords and potential employers will, too. You need to be careful about online sources, too.
Generally, when you provide someone with your social security number, you may be giving permission for someon to look at your credit report. You shouldn’t disallow people from looking for just cause, but knowing who is looking is good financial practice.
Here are 2 more tips on our ongoing posts that can help you deal with your credit report so that you can give your credit score a boost:
Tip #10: Contact your creditors as well as the credit bureaus when correcting errors in your credit report
When people find mistakes on their credit report, they often only contact the credit bureaus. While this is the most effective way to resolve things, you should in some cases contact the creditors whose account has caused a ding on your credit report. This can help future dings and resolve problems faster.
For example: Let’s say that you were late sending a credit card payment two months ago because you were sick. The late payment is listed as a ding on your credit report even though you eventually paid it. You should contact the credit bureau in order to get the error removed.
However, if you notice that the same credit card company has you listed as having late payments three months when you paid on time, then contact the credit card company and ask how to resolve the problem.
The bottom line is the information reported about you to credit bureaus should be accurate - if it’s not, then the credit company should work to make sure that they correct the problem so that it doesn’t happen again. You have an advantage in this - the credit company, unlike the credit bureau, depends on your business for their money. This means that the credit company (or any other bill company presenting inaccurate information about you) is well motivated to correct the problem or risk losing you as a customer.
When a company consistently reports inaccurate information about you to credit bureaus, consider making a formal complaint to the company about it or switch companies.
Tip #11: Know the difference between soft and hard inquiries
When you request to look at your credit report, it is counted as a “soft inquiry.” Only “hard inquiries” from lenders will affect your credit score dramatically. Although checking your credit score too often is an expensive habit, you should not avoid checking your credit report because you fear it will make your credit rating worse.
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