On December 4, 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) act that provide one free credit report to all citizens of the United States per year. This came about as the result of a rise in identity theft and the need for citizens to able to view and monitor their credit reports to check for accuracy of information.

Now, all United States citizens are entitled to one free credit report each year from any one of the three credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This one free credit report can be very valuable to the everyday consumer as it is used by most lending institutions and credit card companies to evaluate you and decided if you are a good credit risk.

There are various ways you can go about getting your free credit report. You can go to any of the credit reporting agencies’ websites: www.experian.com, www.equifax.com, or www.transunion.com. There will be links there that can guide you through getting your free credit report.

Probably one of the easier ways, however, to go about it is to visit either of the following websites: www.annualcreditreport.com or www.freecreditreport.com. They will guide you through the process by asking a series of questions and asking personal things to help determine that you are who you say you are. Within a few moments, your free credit report will appear on your computer screen and you will be able to save it to your computer and print it out so you can check for any mistakes.

Many people feel that the FACT act is one of the best pieces of legislation to come into effect in a long time. Many years ago, the everyday consumer would have to pay money to see their credit report. The information was almost held hostage unless that person wanted to “pay up”. The FACT Act was written and passed to prevent this.

Legislators agreed that people should have access to information about them and that they deserved to be able to see what the credit reporting agencies have compiled about them. So now, each and every American can get a free credit report each year.

We urge you to get your free credit report right now if you haven’t already. It is how lending companies decide if you can get a car loan, a home loan, or a line of credit. For many Americans, this is very important. So, go get your free credit report and stay on the road toward having a clean credit record.

There are three major credit reporting bureaus that can offer you a free credit report. They are Experian, Equifax, and Transunion, and all can be found easily online. These three bureaus provide credit reports to everyday consumers, but, unfortunately, you are only entitled to have one credit report for free.

In 2003, the Federal Government passed the FACT Act that allows for all Americans to have access to one free credit report each year. That means that in order to get a credit report from the three bureaus, one of them will be free, and the other two you will have to pay for.

Why bother to get a credit report from all three bureaus when only one is free? The answer is simple. Businesses and creditors are not required to report to all three of the credit bureaus. They are not legally required to report to any of them if they don’t want to. However, most companies will report to at least one of the three credit bureaus.

If you are serious about either keeping good credit or improving your bad credit, you as a consumer should request first your free credit report and then buy the other two so that you have a credit report from all three credit bureaus. The reason is given above. You want to have a full and clear picture of where you stand when it comes to credit, so getting a credit report from all three bureaus is just a responsible thing to do.

Once you receive your free credit report from at least one of the three bureaus, you will want to take some time to go over it and make sure that the information is accurate. Even one mistake on your credit report can make a difference in your overall credit score and could get you denied for a line of credit or a loan.

If you do find a mistake, you need to report it right away. Usually, there will be a link on the websites where you can go to so you can at least alert them to the error. After that, you will have to provide written documentation to them that the account is a mistake and they will review your request. Once they decide, if it is indeed a mistake, it will be removed from your report immediately.

To recap, you can get one free credit report from any of the three bureaus in charge of credit reporting. To get reports from the other two, you will be charged a small fee, but in the long run, it will be well worth the money to protect your credit.

If you have a bad credit rating you might think it’s impossible for you to obtain a new phone contract such as for a cell phone. In some cases this is true, but more often than not, there are several options you can explore for a getting a phone contract with a bad credit rating.

First, you will want to check with the cell phone company and have them run your credit. If you do have bad credit, they will most often come back and tell you that in order to get a phone contract; you will have to put down a deposit on the contract. This shows good faith in that you are promising to pay the bill and if you don’t, you forfeit your deposit. I’ve seen phone contract deposits as high as $1,000 depending on how bad the person’s credit is. Most likely, it will be in the neighborhood of about $300, but be prepared.

The company may also offer you a pre-paid cell phone that is a month to month contract. These plans are made especially for people with a bad credit rating and getting a cell phone contract like this can actually help to raise your credit rating if you make on-time payments and don’t get the phone cut off.

A third option in getting a cell phone with a bad credit rating doesn’t even involve a contract. You can buy a phone at almost any retail outfit such as K-Mart, Wal-Mart, or Radio Shack. Phones like this require you to also purchase minutes for the phone in order to use it. If you run out of minutes, you just purchase more. These phones work much like regular cell phones, but they may have restrictions such as with roaming and long distance, so you’ll want to thoroughly check out the options before you buy.

Our world is filled with cell phones today, so for many people, getting a cell phone contract with a bad credit rating can be a real headache. The landline phone is quickly going the way of the dinosaur as more people turn to the convenience of cell phones for their communication needs. When you have a bad credit rating, getting a cell phone contract is more difficult than for people who have better credit ratings, but getting one can be done. You just have to take unconventional routes and try just a little bit harder.

If you have found yourself in deep problems when it comes to your credit score, you may want to explore a credit repair program to get you back on your feet. What exactly is a credit repair program? Actually, you can look at a credit repair program in a couple of different ways.

First, there are credit repair programs that exist in the form of a class or seminar. These are usually held by credit counseling companies hoping to secure your business, but they are also offered by many local community colleges or universities and even as public relations offerings by your local government.

These seminars cover how to find out your credit score, read your credit report, and take steps to repair any credit problems you might be having. They are usually day long classes and will give you tools to use when it comes to obtaining, using, and monitoring your credit. They will help you repair your credit with an easy program and stay out of debt permanently.

A new phenomenon when it comes to a credit repair program involves the computer industry – of course! There are many, many software programs available for sale that we’ve found all of which claim to help you repair your credit with the click of a mouse. Most of these credit repair software programs are very reasonably priced and will work with any operating system platform.

Their claims can be a little “out there”, but Consumer’s Digest has done extensive research on these credit repair programs and found that many of them are actually legitimate and can really help those with credit problems. They can detect errors in your credit report and help you correct them, plus they come with financial software that can help keep you out of debt once you’ve repaired your credit to where it was before your troubles began.

A good credit repair software program will come with a money-back guarantee after a certain point and even a free trial so that you can see if it will meet your particular needs. They will fully outline what the program should be able to do and provide step-by-step instructions so that even the novice computer user can easily navigate the program with little to no experience.

Essentially, what a credit repair software program will do is exactly what a credit counseling service can do only at a fraction of the cost and in the comfort of your own home. These programs are definitely worth looking into when it comes to credit repair, so do your homework and choose your program wisely. Then get on the road toward better credit!

You want to own your own home, but you have bad credit and are having trouble obtaining a mortgage loan. Is there anything you can do? Initially, you would think not, but actually, there are ways you can get a mortgage loan when you have bad credit.

There’s no use wondering what happened to get you into a bad credit situation. Life happens. And when it does, sometimes your credit can suffer. Just because your credit isn’t perfect doesn’t mean that you should miss out on the opportunities available to everyone else. See, there are companies that actually understand this and they specialize in bad credit mortgage loans that can get you the money you need to buy a home and stop paying rent!

These companies offer many different types of mortgage loans for people with bad credit, but like other companies like these, the loans are probably going to be at a high interest rate, so you’ll want to thoroughly check out all programs available to you. If your payment is going to be too high, you’ll want to steer away from those loans or else you’ll get into more problems.

The Federal Government even knows that people with bad credit can still pay a mortgage and they are willing to help out with government subsidized loans like FmHA that is a mortgage loan based on income. Actually, these types of mortgage loans are perfect for people with bad credit because it gives them not only a home, but a payment they can afford and the chance to rebuild their credit.

FmHA mortgage loans are perfect for people with bad credit. They have strict guidelines that they have to adhere to as far as what types of homes will qualify and the paperwork is heavy, but in the long run, it’s certainly worth it. So many people dream of owning their own home but think that they can’t get a mortgage loan because they have bad credit.

The key here is to do your homework and look around for a mortgage company that specializes in mortgage loans for people with bad credit. There are companies out there that will offer up credit to you albeit at larger interest rates than a regular mortgage, but the important thing to remember is that it is possible.

Having bad credit doesn’t mean you can’t get a mortgage loan. It just means that you’ll have to do a little more work finding a company that will work with you. Owning your own home isn’t out of reach just because you have bad credit. It can happen, so dream big and start today!