Learning About Credit Reports And Their Presence In Consumer Affairs
There are number of issues to understand about credit reports and why they seem to be such an intrinsic part of our society nowadays. For fact, there’s almost nothing that can be bought on some sort of time payment arrangement that won’t require the pulling of a credit report, and there are plenty of things that have nothing to do with time payments that end up involving a credit report these days.
For example, having what is known as “poor credit” may cause a person to pay much more for not only the things that are financed but also things that are purchased or rented or leased on even an occasional basis. As an example, realize that there are a number of states that allow automobile insurance companies to pull credit as a means of determining how much to charge for a policy.
The reasoning behind this — most auto insurers would say — is that people with poor credit (nowadays, that would usually be people below a 600 credit score) seem to be higher risks in terms of claims and driving behaviors. Many experts dispute this and say that it is pure nonsense and some states have begun to outlaw the practice, but it is still out there.
What is also good to know is that more and more prospective employers are looking at a prospective employee’s past credit history before coming to a decision about hiring him or her. Keep in mind that a prospective employer must obtain, in writing, permission from the prospective employee to pull credit from one of the three major bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) in order to assess it.
What all this means is that credit and the need to have it and also the need to assess just who is a good credit risk and who isn’t is a a fact of life in our society these days. Mailboxes can be stuffed full of credit offers from organizations that have accessed what the credit bureaus call a quick look report and sent out an offer for “possible” credit because of that quick look, for example.
A report of credit worthiness as issued by a credit bureau is also used in traditional ways such as determining whether or not a person should be given credit and how much the interest rate will be. These reports usually span 7 to 10 years in a person’s credit life and somebody who has a credit score below 600 or even 650 can end up paying much higher interest rates for most anything, including mortgages.
All of the above highlights why it’s important for a consumer to pull his or her credit reports on an annual basis. By law, each of the reporting bureaus must provide a free credit report to a consumer who asks for it. There won’t be a credit score on the report (that costs money) but the report itself can be a good way to see just what each bureau might have on a consumer, which is a good thing to know.
Comprehending and appreciating credit reports and why they exist becomes necessary anytime an individual is going to apply for credit and they want to make sure they’ll be successful in the application for it. Bad credit thus calls for credit repair.
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