Credit Report Checklist

Understand your credit reports. Lenders, employers, landlords, and insurers all rely on the information in your credit reports to help them make decisions about whether to loan you money, hire you, rent to you, or insure you. So it’s smart to review your reports every few years to verify that the information is accurate, especially before you need to borrow for a large purchase, such as a car or house.

Even if you’re not planning to borrow money soon, or ever again, it’s important to review your credit reports regularly since your current lenders monitor your report. Plus, you never know when you’ll be applying for a new job or an insurance policy. Moreover, with credit fraud on the rise, it’s a good idea to check your credit reports every so often for any accounts or transactions that aren’t yours.

Know your rights. The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which was recently amended, gives you specific rights regarding your credit reports. Under the act, in an effort to protect your privacy, a credit bureau may only provide information about you to people with a need recognized by the act. This typically includes lenders, insurers, landlords, employers, and some businesses. However, credit bureaus may not give information about you to your employer, or prospective employer, without your written consent. Furthermore, a credit bureau may not report medical information about you to creditors, insurers, or employers without your permission.

In addition to this federal law, check with your local consumer protection agency or state Attorney General for information about additional rights you may have under your state law.

Request copies of your credit reports. Depending on what state you live in, credit bureaus may charge up to $8, plus tax, for a copy of your report. If you’ve been denied credit, a job, insurance, or rental housing within the past 60 days because of information supplied by a credit reporting agency, the report is free. For details on how to order your report, visit the websites of the three national credit reporting agencies:

Review your reports for accuracy. When you receive your reports, here are the key items to check:

Request that any errors be corrected. If you find inaccurate or incomplete information in your reports, follow the credit bureau’s instructions for how to request corrections. Credit bureaus will investigate any information you question and send you their results within 30 days. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, if they can’t verify a disputed item, they’re required to correct or delete it.

Review your corrected reports. Once you receive your revised credit reports, recheck them for accuracy. At your request, the credit bureau will send a copy of your corrected report to any lender who received one in the past six months, or to employers who received one in the past two years.

Recheck your credit reports annually. Lots of new information can be added to your reports in a year’s time, some of which may be incorrect or even fraudulent. So make it a habit to order a copy of your report every year.

Opt out of unsolicited offers. To help prevent fraud, request that your name be kept off credit bureau lists that creditors and insurers use to send pre-approved offers. Thieves sometimes intercept these solicitations and then use them to get credit in your name. Request that you be taken off these so-called prescreened lists indefinitely by using the specific forms the three national credit bureaus provide. For companies that already have your name, request that they remove your name from their future lists by calling the toll-free number they’re required to list on the offers they send you.