Folks on the west coast could start getting their free credit reports from the three credit bureaus on Dec. 1. Based on thinking about buying a house (I didn't - too expensive for the value you get), I had my report pulled over a year ago. Looking at them all three were riddled with minor mistakes, so setting them straight was a good little project.
Since my score was good, I wanted to monitor and protect my report, so I pulled a different bureau's report every four months. That way, if I lost my credit card or had my identity stolen I could pick it up in four months instead of years. I looked at Equifax's and fixed the employment history in Dec., Trans Union's had a nine year old tax lien that should have fallen off and I fixed that on Mar. I looked at Experian's last night. All clear!
That was so nice - it wasn't always the case. About ten years ago I was in sad financial shape - unemployed and took unemployment compensation. I got caught because no taxes were taken out. I paid the IRS, but not the AZ state income tax, which promptly slapped a tax lien on me even when I moved to NC. A year later I paid it off, and the fact that I paid it also went on my report. Did I get brownie points for that? Nope. If anything, the record that I paid for it reminded everybody that had this in the first place. Grrr.
Credit report finally clear
August 22nd, 2005 at 03:56 am
August 23rd, 2005 at 02:06 am 1124759208
August 23rd, 2005 at 05:11 am 1124770286