Credit Reports

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2003
Credit Reports
8
Thu, 08-19-2004 - 6:39pm
I *know* I know the answer to my question, but I seem to be having a memory lapse...I'm going to say it's because I'm conserving my brain cells/available memory for when I start back to school on Monday, LOL!

Anyhow: We're wanting to order our credit reports, but how is it I do this? Are online better than actual paper ones? Has anyone used the online ones?

(And, yes, I know I could ask this over on the Debt Q&A board, but I'm not gonna!)

Thanks-

Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-30-2003
In reply to: luckyme03
Thu, 08-19-2004 - 8:03pm

Lisa,


I think both are good, BUT, and that's a HUGE BUT, when I tried to fight it out with a few companies that the status was wrong on my credit reports, they refused to take the online ones because they weren't "real".


I'm not sure if any one else has had problems with this, but I had it with my credit union, Fleet, and one other one I can't remember. They wanted something "official" not something printed off the internet.


Therefore, if you think you need to fight something, get the paper one. If you just need to check something or check out your report, get the online one. Also, it's much easier to get all three when online. Although, once again, I tried to fight something and they wanted the "original" and of course, I didn't have it. Which would've required me to pay more money. Bleah.


I guess it depends on what you plan on doing with it. Or if you want all three and want a simple way to get it.

~Cher




my pet!

Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: luckyme03
Thu, 08-19-2004 - 8:32pm

Now, now....Lisa...a *tad* bit on the grumpy side aren't we?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2003
In reply to: luckyme03
Thu, 08-19-2004 - 9:18pm
I don't know whether to laugh or cry...I think it'll be funny later, so by that logic, it's funny now.

I did get our reports from Equifax-the online 3-in-1 jobbie. So, I'm looking through mine, thinking, "Ummm, this isn't mine, this is, this isn't..." My first thought-"OMG! Identity theft-ooh, this is going to get u-g-l-y." So, this is where it gets funny. It's not identity theft, more like identity mix-up!

My given name is Elizabeth, my middle initial is A (but, as you know, I go by Lisa ;D ). My mother-in-law's given name is also Elizabeth, but her middle initial is also A. (are you seeing what the problem could be yet?) So, as I'm looking at this, I notice that all of a sudden in the Experian column my address is listed as hers. "Oh, no, not again..." We've had problems in the past about her getting credit card offers for me (we know because my maiden name is on them) but have just laughed about it. I'm pretty sure that some of the things listed are actually hers. Although it makes my credit score and stuff look good-I'd be better off without anybody else's stuff on there! No wonder when we applied for the loan for the Blazer last December the loan officer guy said, "You seem to have a whole bunch of credit cards." I thought that he was saying that 4 was too many-uh, guess he was seeing something I wasn't, ROFL!!!

What now? (Besides eating chocolate, lol) And how long is it that the accounts can stay on there? There's some from a galaxy far far away that probably should go away now. And to think that I did this to myself voluntarily. I could have been enjoying my last few days of freedom, but oh noooooo-

Help!

Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
In reply to: luckyme03
Thu, 08-19-2004 - 10:55pm

I'd get the ones from the credit bureaus - rather than online.

                            

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-23-2004
In reply to: luckyme03
Fri, 08-20-2004 - 6:28pm
There are three major credit bureaus within the United States:

Experian, 888-397-3742

Equifax, 800-685-1111

TransUnion, 800-916-8800

These credit bureaus do not share information; therefore, it is recommended that you obtain a copy of your credit report from each bureau at least once a year. Depending on what state you reside in and when you last requested a copy of your report, you may be eligable for a free copy of your credit report. For more information about which states offer these free reports, please refer to each bureau's web-site: Experian (http://www.experian.com/), Equifax (http://www.equifax.com/), or TransUnion (http://www.transunion.com/).

For security reasons, these bureaus do not offer on-line copies of your credit report; therefore, I would not recommend going through a third-party to get an on-line copy of your report. Upon receipt of your request, you should receive a copy of that bureau's credit report in the mail fairly quickly. I think I received mine in about three days after I submitted the request.

Hope this helps!

Christin

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-18-2004
In reply to: luckyme03
Fri, 08-20-2004 - 9:28pm
I got the online copies of my credit report about 18 months ago. The beauty of it is you don't have to go to three different businesses (or call) to get a copy of all of them. I went to myfico.com and ordered all three for $38.85. I don't know if it makes a difference but that is who comes up with your FICO score. Suze Orman also recommends this site.

The other good thing is once you find errors in your credit report (if there are any) you can file an online challange 24 hours a day on the credit bureaus websites. I have done this and it is so easy. They immediately email you with notification your challange has been received and then within 30 days they mail you a corrected credit report for free.

I even filed an online challange a year after I received the first report (I didn't look as closely as I should have at one of the notations) and still got a corrected report.

I ALWAYS print hard copies of my credit report and I have kept them.

The first time I got one was back in 1996 because DH and I were turned down for a loan.

In that case you have to be given one for free. It turned out DH had a credit account with a local store and someone else with a similar name lived in a similar sounding town. The other person just had a clerk look up his credit card info in the computer, got my DH mixed up with this other guy and this other guy's credit got merged with us. It wouldn't have been so bad except this guy was late 90 days on several accounts and had filed bankruptcy in 1985 (when DH and I were both still in high school). It took us 6 months and many letters to different companies to get it straightened out, but it finally did. The way we proved the merging of the reports was my social security number, DH's and this guy's were all on one report. I have heard somewhere that's illegal, but not being a lawyer, I am not sure.

Good luck with the reports.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2003
In reply to: luckyme03
Fri, 08-20-2004 - 10:51pm
I went back to view it again (on Equifax's site), and there was a "click here" link to get to Experian dispute site. (Experian is the one that seems to think I am my MIL-lol)So, I clicked and there were some security questions to answer. All of them had to do with things she and my FIL have bought, so I answered No to all of them-and wouldn't you know it? It got confused and said there was an error? (I thought, "You think?!?!")

Maybe I'm not understanding what it is I need to do now. Any ideas?

I had actually ordered them not because I want another credit card, but because I had been noticing that the credit card offers I was getting were for higher APR's than normal and was thinking how odd that was. Well, that and at the beginning of the year, I'd written it down on my financial goal sheet,lol.

There are accounts that date from 1996 (the last activity date, I think) that probably should be off by now, as well as a few accounts that I'm pretty sure are my DMIL's. There's a couple that I have less than no clue as to what they are/were, that I know I'll have to write letters for.There's one that I was thinking I'd closed, but looks like maybe not.

*Sigh* At least I checked it! Any ideas on what I do now? I know on Equifax, I have to do the name change thing-it still lists me under my maiden name!

Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-18-2004
In reply to: luckyme03
Sat, 08-21-2004 - 11:23am
The credit bureaus should have, somewhere on their site, a place where you can type in the company name (ie MBNA), the account number (this should be on the credit report--at least a partial number) and the reason you are disputing that account. I did seven or eight disputes on one form (mostly for accounts I closed, but were still showing open).

Since I recently paid off most of my cc debt and closed several accounts I need to go back and check my credit reports now.

Good luck,

Kellie