An Instant Credit Report Online

We're all about instant gratification. Today getting your instant credit report online has mushroomed in popularity. The Internet lets consumers check their credit report with the click of a button.

That information has a high value. An online instant credit report provides consumers with all of the information that a particular credit bureau has collected about them for years. The three major bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, include information on open credit card accounts, loans, late payments, outstanding balances and more. Your credit report is so important because it serves as your financial report card. No lender will ever give you money without first checking your credit report.

Credit reporting agencies assign a credit score to your credit report. The higher the number assigned, the better the credit. Financial institutions look at your credit score to determine whether you'll be likely to pay back what you borrow.

Check for Fraud On Your Credit Report Online
At the top of each report is identifying information about you. Watch especially for the following:

• Names that aren't yours (not just misspellings of your own name)


• Social Security numbers that don't belong to you


• An incorrect birth date


• Addresses where you have never lived

These are the kinds of errors that could indicate someone else's information is in your file.
You might find other errors, such as an employer listed that you no longer work for or a misspelled address. You can ask the bureau to fix those problems as well, but that shouldn't be your highest priority.

Credit Accounts
The next section lists credit accounts that you've opened, along with such information as the date you opened them, whether the account is still open or now closed, the type of account, the account number (typically abbreviated), your payment history, your credit limits, and your balances. Scan this section closely for the following:

• Accounts that aren't yours


• Delinquencies that aren't yours (including late payments and charge-offs)


• Late payments, charge-offs, or other negative entries—other than a bankruptcy—that are more than seven years old


• Debts that your spouse incurred before marriage (unless they improve your credit history—more on that later)


• Any other incorrect account notations, such as showing a debt as past due when it was wiped out in a bankruptcy filing