I can expect that most of us may or may not know our credit scores. Someone may even haven’t checked his or her scredit report! I think check your credit report every month or every several months is a must. You should be always careful about your identity fraud. With the development of advanced technology, the indentity fraud seems as a major concern for us. based on my own experience, I list some services that you can use.
1. You have the right to check your credit report once every year from annualcreditreport.com. You can try one credit bureau each time. You don’t have to pull credit report from 3 credit bureaus at the same time. You can check another bureau later. For example, I requested to see my credit report from TransUnion in Feb. Then I can request to see my credit report in Experian in June. Then in November, I can see the credit report from Equifax. Our law gives us the right to check our credit report once every year for free. The credit report you pulled from annualcreditreport.com can be viewed online for one month. They don’t report credit score. (Don’t confuse with freecredtireort.com! They are not free!)
2. Every time when you get rejected for an application for a credit card or checking/saving account, you have to right to request a credit report from the credit bureau. Which credit bureau you can request depends on which credit bureau they pull when you file the application. It’s free. Again they don’t provide credit score.
3. The private credit service from each credit bureau. For example, TransUnion provides the service named truecredit. Right now they offer unlimited credit score and credit report from transunion for only $9.95/mon. The first month is free. Experian and Equifax also provide similar service. IF you’d like, they also provide 3-in-1 credit report and credit score. As long as you pay them money, you can get all 3 credit reports and credit scores from them.
4. MyFico.com offers the true credit score for you. The above mentioned services give you FAKO credit score. Altough they use similar scoring system as MyFico, MyFico is the only place you can get your true credit score. Again MyFico will also provide credit report for you. But you have to pay it.
5 . National City Identity Protect. I use this service since this July. I can pull my credit report from 3 bureaus daily and it also provide the credit score from Transunion. The price is $8.95/mon. The first month is $1.
6. CreditSecure from American Express. This service provides 3-in-1 credit report. You can get FAKO from 3 credit bureaus. The price is $11.99/mon. If you call then up, you will get $99.95 per year. The system is much more beautiful than Truecredit. You need have an American Express card to sign in. The first month is free.
7. Citi Identity Monitor. I haven’ t used this service before. You can get 3-in-1 credit report and creedit score for just $12.95/mon. The first month is free. (766318 to enroll yourself)
8. Chase Identity Protection. It seems it’s similar service like Citi.
9. Costco Identity Guard. They provide 3-in-1 credit report and credit score. The drawback compared to other service is you can only update your credit report and credit score monthly. The price for Executive Members is $7.49/mon. And $9.49/mon for Gold Star & Business Members.
10. Walmart TrueCredit Service. I believe this service is actually provided by TrueCredit. But you pay through Walmart. They increase the rate recently.
11. Privacy Guard. You can try their service for just $1 for the first 2 months. And then you have to pay $129.99 per year. You can get 3-in-1 credit report and credit score.
12. Privacy Matters. Believe me, don’t use their service. The price for the first 7 days is $1 and then you have to pay $29.95/mon. You have better choices.
I believe you can find more credit services to get yourself know your credit score and credit report. The above mentione are the most popular srevices we use today. And we are not willing to provide our personal information to those private owned services. Get started to see your credit report and score! You will have better chance to get a credit card or checking/saving account.
The credit card users have a right to review their credit reports on quarterly, semi-annually or annually basis. They can send request for their credit report to credit bureau. The better credit scores extracted from these reports help debt relief for borrowers. It’s a best source for determining credit worthiness of the borrower hence helps in deciding debt consolidation rates for them. Debt financing or credit consolidation help business people in managing their business finance requirements more efficiently and more effectively.
Loading ...
October 15th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
5 years ago,my husband’s credit card was canceled for not pay $1080.
2 years ago, he bought a car for 21% loan rate for without credit card and low Credit Score.
Now his Credit Score is just 30.
What does the 30 Score mean? It means he can not get credit card any more?
How to fix and improve his Credit Score? We should return the $1080 to fix his credit?
Thank you.
October 15th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Hi Grace. I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure you have got his credit report. 30 means nothing. Where did you get the credit score? Is there a collection record? Are the collection agency still want to get the money? It’s really hard to handle the problem.If he is continuing to pay the car loan, I think his credit score will increase gradually.But it will be very slow. I suggest open a secured credit card from BOA or HSBC. And pay the money in full every month. Or wait until the record disappears for about 2 years later.
October 16th, 2007 at 8:06 am
Hi Grace. How is this old CC reporting? Charge off? Collection?
Is that CC the only derogatory item on the CR? It certainly doesn’t mean that he can’t get a CC ever again. There are people here that have been much worse off and are doing very well now. 30 is not a FICO score, FICO score ranges from 350 to 850.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:42 am
hi, cardoffer, Thank you for your reply.
I found the letter from the collection agency on Nov, 2006.
We didn’t get his credit record yet. He said he ordered a service that send email about the credit course to him every month.
Should we get his credit record to make sure if we need return the $1080? or just go to call the collection agency?
Thank your suggestion for opening a secured credit card from BOA or HSBC, we will try.
Can you have some suggestion about how to improve his credit course with the secured credit card as soon as possible?
Thanks a lot.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Hi Grace. I would say the credit service is not necessary. Contact the collection agency and see whether there is a room to handle the problem (you’d better know what’s reason.). IF you pay off the $1080, that would be great. And keep a credit report for yourself is a must. You can get a free credit report (without score) from annulcreditreport.com once every year. If you want to boost your credit score, here are some points to remember: 1) do not exceed the 48% of total credit limit. 2) pay off every month. If you have a very good friend or relative, ask him/her to open an authorized card for your husband (provide SSN). The good standing of the card will also reflect on his credit report. If you have any problem, feel free to contact me.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:02 pm
hi,cardoffer:
Thank you for your help.
This weekend, i got his credit report. His PLUS Score from Experian credit report is 580. Credit Category is Poor (5 levels: Very Poor,Poor,Fair,Good,Excellent). The report says the 580 score means he can still obtain a car loan (now his car loan is 20.5%) or a line of credit (he has applied the debit card twice to his account bank, but refused) with a poor rating, however your interest rates and loan terms may be high(true).That is why we want to fix his credit very much.
The report is not too bad. He has no Public Record,Credit Inquiries. The biggest problem is that he has 2 payments that were late (another is that he has no open installment load，because he has no any credit card long time, he pay his car loan with check now）:
——————————————–
Account Name: XXXX BANK
Account Number: XXXXXXX
Acct Type: Credit Card-Revolving Terms
Acct Status: Closed
Date Open: 12/1/2001
Balance: $1080.00
Terms: Revolving
Limit: $250.00
Past Due: $1080.00
Payment Status: Charge-off
24-Month Payment History: All are KD (Key Derogatory)
** We got the last letter for the $1080 on Nov 2006 from the A Collection Company that had the authorization from the Bank. I wonder why above account name is not the A Collection Company but the Bank.
———————————–
Account Name: XXX INC. (* B Collection Company is not the same as above A Collection Company)
Account Number: XXXXXXX
Acct Type: Collection Department/Agency/Attorney)
Acct Status: Closed
Date Open: 12/1/2005
Balance: $630.00
Terms: 1 month
Past Due: $630.00
Payment Status: Seriously past due date/assigned to attorney,collection agency,or credit grantor’s internal collection department)
24-Month Payment History: All are KD (Key Derogatory)
* I wonder if the $630 is the interest of the $1080. But they are from different connection companies.
——————————————–
So now the Total Accounts Balance is $1710.
On the report, it says the information of delay payment can stay on the credit report up to the seven years. So should we refund the $1080 and %630 as soon as possible? Should we refund the $630 at first? Connect the B Connection Company directly?
About the first account, which one we should connect with, the Bank or the A Connection Company?
And we just got the Experian Credit Report. Should we get his EQUIFAX and TRANSUNION Credit Reports? They seem charge money.
Thank you. looking forward your suggestion.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Hi Grace. My first response is you husband are lucky. The bank should have filed a lawsuit.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:29 pm
A charge-off is a very serious problem. It’s one of the worst possible items to have in your credit file. Basically, a charge-off is considered as “written off as uncollectable”. A charge-off is still legally valid, and the creditor will attempt to collect the full amount through internal collect agency or an outside collection agency. If the amount is large—$1000 or more—there is a possibility of lawsuit. However, you should know that paying off a charge-off will not remove it from your credit file. It will simply updated as ” paid- charge-off” which is a slightly better, but still a seriously derogatory item. According to the law, a charge-off will remain on a person’s credit file for 7 years. (whether paid off or not)
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Possible suggestion: some creditors are negotiable . So you should try your best to contact the bank to pay off the amount and ask them to remove the charge-off from the report. (they can write a letter to Credit report agency to remove the item in the report)But remember, this must be done with bank directly, not with a collection agency! If you are attempting to do this, please make everything in written, and be sure that the person you are dealing with have the authority to grant your request (remove the charge-off). It seems it’s a hard job to settle this problem. You don’t have to contact the collection agency.(it’s useless.) Pay you money to the bank directly. And then ask the bank to inform the collection agency that you have paid off the charge-off.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Other questions: I don’t understand where comes the second charge-off ($630) Also are there other credit information? Also why there is no information of the car loan? I can’t understand it. A card loan is an installment account. (we all pay our car loan with checks.) that’s definitely important for his credit report and will boost the score quickly—-contact the dealer. Ask them to report the car loan payment ASAP.
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:44 pm
In summary, contact the bank-pay off the charge-off-remove the charge-off. ASk the dealer to report car loan to the credit report agency. And then open secured credit card.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:58 am
hi,cardoffer:
Thank you for these good suggestion.
About the Car Loan, my husband found a Credit Report of last year that had three credit reports named EXPERIAN,EQUIFAX,TRANSUNION from http://www.FreeCreditReport.com (the first one is free so we could get it this weekend. The EQUIFAX and TRANSUNION need pay, I can’t read them now ).
We found the the Car Loan is on the EQUIFAX Credit Report that show my husband paid on time every month since May 2005,the Payment Status is “Pays account as agreed”. I think it’s why his credit score is 580, not too low.
The $360 was at the TRANSUNION Credit Report last year. It’s from a hospital where my husband got an operation in 2005. I think the hospital asked the B Connecting Company to get the money back. But I can’t find the bill from the B Connecting Company, maybe my husband lost them. I got the phone number,my husband will call them to ask for new bill for it, then we will pay.
We will pay for http://www.FreeCreitReport.com to get the EQUIFAX and TRANSUNION Creidt Reports ASAP to make sure all the unpaid bills and refund them.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:59 am
About the $1080, my husband called the customer service of the bank named Applied Bank. They told him they could not remove the charge-off from the report even we refund the $1080. They has not branch in our city. So they just give us an address for sending check to them.
But the last letter (Nov 2006) from the A Connecting Company that had the authorization from the Bank is :
“Applied Card Bank Fka Country Bank has authorized CBCS 02 to extend to you the following offer:
Applied Card Bank Fka Country Bank will remove the charged off trade line on your credit report if you pay the balance in full.
In order to take advantage of this offer you must contract CBCS 02.
Please allow 90 days for this item to be removed from your credit report after you have paid the balance in full.
This communication from a debt collector is an attempt to collect a debt, and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.”
My husband called the Bank with the phone number that is from the Contact Us web page of the Applied Bank. I think maybe we found wrong person. I don’t know how to find the right person of the bank.
I think maybe we can connect with the A Connecting Company to ask them to send us the new bill, if there are “Applied Card Bank Fka Country Bank will remove the charged off trade line on your credit report if you pay the balance in full.” then we will pay to the Connecting Company.
I wonder if the bill has force adeffect to make sure the Bank will remove the charged-off when we pay. Or the Connecting Company just use that words to make us to refund the money ASAP? Can we ask the Connecting Company to send us the letter from Bank that make sure the bank will remove the charged-off when we refund those money?
Thank you very much!!!
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:32 am
Hi Grace. Again, don’t use the service from freecreditreport.com, according the fair credit act, you have the right to get a free credit report each year at http://www.annualcreditreport.com. There are a lot of complains about freecreditreport—CIC*Triple Advantage (you can google through web). In fact, you should contact the Applied Bank to remove the charge-off. If you can ask the collection agency to write an agreement as indicated that they will remove the charge-off, that’s OK. About the $360 bill, please pay off ASAP. Also please use the credit cards from BOA, Chase, Citi, AMEX….Their services are way much better than small banks. When he pays off the charge-off, he can start to apply for secured credit card. I assume that he will need at least 6 months to get the score higher than 600. If he control the spending of credit card lower than 48%, he can boost his score very quickly. (lower than 30% is better.)
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:50 pm
hi,cardoffer:
Thank you for your rely.
Today my husband called the A Collection Company, they said the Bank has closed the collection account to them. We just need connect with the bank directly.
Then I started to looking for some information about the Bank —– Applied Card Bank Cross Country Bank. I found some web site about it where many customers of the bank are complaining the bank cheated their money. For example: http://www.crosscountrycard.com/ccbStupidT.htm#Small%20Claims%20Court
Reading those people’s experience (they call the bank is Stupid Bank), i get shock.
Now I think they will not remove the Charge-off on the report anyway. I feel it’s hopeless. The Date Opened is 12/2001, the Date of Last Payment is 11/2002. Does it mean the “Closed charge-off” will be kept till 12/2008? If it is, we can stand it.
Now I just worry the “Stupid Bank” will not make acknowledgment that we made payoff for the account completely after we paid. Maybe they will ask us more money for the interest. In fact, my husband just had only $250 Credit Limit for that credit card, but now he need pay $1080. I can’t believe the Bank.
Now we plan to send a check of $1080 to the bank, then we will have a record on our checking account for the $1080 as an evidence that we paid to the bank. I am going to write a letter with the check to ask the bank to send us a letter that confirm the account payoff when they got the money on the check, but i am not sure they will do it.
Do you have any good idea for it?
Thank you very much!!!
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Another web site about the Cross Country Bank and the CBCS Collection Company:
http://ripoffreport.com/reports/0/242/RipOff0242554.htm
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Hi, Grace. AS I said, please use the credit card from BOA, Citi, Discover, HSBC,Chase and AMEX. It’s very obvious that that Stupid Bank aims at guys with poor credit. You can find out a post by me about the world worst credit card. One thing, the charge-off will stay there for 7 years is not based on the credit card history but based on the reporting date of the charge-off. (same as hard inquiry) So you would have to wait until 2012 to see the record of charge-off out. It would be a big problem if you want to get a mortgage. A 0.5% APR will cost you a lot of money each month. My suggestion is still you have to call them first. Ask them to give you a formal letter about the Charge-off—where the hell $1080 comes from. If them are not going to give you the prove, Don’t pay the money. Because if them are not gonna remove the record, it’s meaning less to pay the money. At the same time, you should start to build your credit history. In the future, you can add him as an authorized user. If they are willing to remove the record, them do let them give you a letter.