What Is A Credit Rating?

Your credit rating is a number that many lenders and potential creditors use to decide whether or not to extend you credit. They also use it to determine the interest rates and terms they’ll offer you. There’s quite a few factors that go into determining your credit rating.

The Big 3 credit bureaus are TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Lenders and creditors report their transactions to these bureaus, and then they access these records to decide upon an individuals credit worthiness. Some potential creditors will access just one report. Others will access all three.

What Is A Good Credit Rating Number?

The number that is generated for your credit rating is also know as your FICO score. Your FICO score is a number that ranges from 300 to 850. 300 would be bad, 850 would be great! This number is the easiest way for a potential lender to judge how high risk you are. There is a formula for calculating your particular FICO score. – the percentage of available credit you are using – how much credit you have open, and for how long – payment history and delinquent payments – size of debt and credit.

If your credit rating is lower than 550 you will have a hard time getting credit, or pay extremely high rates. Anything under 500-550 is considered very high risk. Once you get your credit rating over 600 you will have an easier time accessing credit. And above 750 lenders are more than happy to extend you credit.

It’s easier to access your credit report and FICO score thanks to the internet. Before you apply for a loan, mortgage or any other major credit, make sure you check your credit rating first.

Can You Really Get A Free Credit Report?

Yes, Under the Consumer Reporting Act every individual is allowed a free credit report annually. This legislation made it possible for every citizen to access their credit reports to check for mistakes, errors or problems.

Unfortunately, this legislation was written at a time when most of our correspondence was still done through the mail. The legislation states you can request, in writing, a copy of your report and it will be mailed to you.

In today’s wired world you can access your credit report online. But beware, there are a lot of places advertising “free credit reports online”, that you need to really read ALL the fine print.

Can I Get A Free Credit Report Online?

Here’s the most common online credit report offer we see. There are many services that will monitor your credit reports. They make sure there isn’t negative information, or false information being put on your report. If something is flagged they notify you of the report so you can take appropriate action. This is also great to prevent identify theft.

Many of these companies off “free credit reports online”. And then, in the fine print they tell you that you can get your free report by subscribing to their yearly credit reporting monitoring service.

So, it’s not really a free credit report, is it?

It’s a bonus credit report when you purchase their subscription service.

It’s a great idea to check your credit score before you apply for a large loan, mortgage, car loan or credit card. You can request the written report once a year, or go online and pay a few dollars (most aren’t free)

You can access all 3 of your FICO scores from Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. Or, you can go to each individual reporting agency and get a copy of your report from them individually.

You can look at the individual details in side your credit report such as credit available, bankruptcy, collection orders, delinquent payments and ratio of debt available to debt used.

Just for your piece of mind, if you do access your credit information online be assured that there is some heavy duty encryption going on that will protect your information from digital pirates. The credit bureaus are making digital privacy a priority.

It’s only smart to check on your credit rating on a regular basis. Just don’t get sucked into a bait and switch subscription service that charges you for protection in return for a free credit report.

Update: check out the Annual Credit Report Service for updates on how to access your yearly free credit report electronically.

What Exactly Is A Credit Check?

A credit check is what a potential lender performs to decide whether or not to extend credit to you, and under what terms. It is a quick way for a grantor to decide upon your creditworthiness. The potential creditor reviews your credit report that is compiled by the credit bureaus. Your credit report will have a FICO number (known as your credit score) and other personal and financial details. Creditors report on people they lend money to. This history of payments, loans, defaults, delinquencies and the size of the debt determines your FICO score.

When a credit check is ordered the potential lender can see a complete history of all your financial dealings, and how responsible you were in the repayment. They also see just how many times you’ve applied for credit recently.

By the way, a personal credit check is different from a business credit check

Who Looks After A Credit Check?

Any time you’ve ever applied for credit, from a simple loan or a credit card, or attempted to obtain financing for a car or electronics, the lender will perform a credit check. The three big credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These are well established sources for performing a credit check. That being said, many of the items on your credit report can be wrong. It is reckless and foolish to not check your report to make sure it’s correct.

Any individual can request report by submitting a written request to a credit bureau through the mail, or you can order your report online. Unfortunately, there are mistakes on a lot of credit reports. By performing a credit check BEFORE you apply for a major loan, mortgage or credit card you can save yourself from potential problems.

What Is A Credit Bureau?

Credit bureaus are compilers of information. Each credit bureau (there are 3) collects information on financial credit details from merchants and lenders, and make that information available (through a credit check) to others who are considering making loans or granting credit.

The big 3 credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Merchants and lenders report to them about how individuals repay and manage their credit. They also make credit reports available to anyone wanting to know financial and personal details from an applicant requesting credit, applying for a job or wanting to rent property.

The Big 3 credit report agencies keep a running list of the credit accounts you have opened, how much you currently owe, what your highest debt load was, and your current balance, whether you make payments on time (or not), and the specific lenders who’ve granted you credit.

They also store other information about you as well, addresses, current and past employment, your SIN number, and other public records such as liens, judgments, and bankruptcy.

Is There Anything A Credit Bureau CAN’T Do?

Sometimes it seems like these companies are collecting every bit of personal information they can. As George Orwell predicted “big brother is watching”. By law there are some personal details that the credit bureau is not allowed to record. Things like race, age, health issues and criminal record.

It was legislated that you can legally request a free copy of your credit report from the BIG 3 annually. But you have to request them through the Annual Credit Report Request Service. Beware of the offers for “free online credit checks”. These usually come with paid subscription credit protection services.

There are other reasons that you can legally request a free copy of your credit report from the credit bureaus. If you’ve had an application rejected, are on public assistance or unemployed, or if you suspect you’ve been a victim of identity theft or credit fraud. If you are worried about these issues you should contact each credit bureau and ask for their help.

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Home Page > Finance > Real Estate > What’s the difference between an online credit check and using an agency?

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What’s the difference between an online credit check and using an agency?

By: Amy Choi
Posted: Apr 22, 2010

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When you are deciding which route to go down, online referencing or using an agency you may want to ask yourself a few questions and really think about the two processes involved in each.

Online tenant screening involves credit checking and screening tenants with references before you accept them into your property.  Online services mean you can do this yourself, at work, in your own home as long as you have an internet connection.  Tenant screening through an agency will bring the same information but you will be employing a middleman to do the work for you.  So which one is better??

Lots of people say they use agencies as they don’t have to worry about it – but often you will have to wait a couple of days before you have your results.  As you are using the services of a person, who has to be paid then costs are higher in obtaining the reference and credit check.  The person who does the checks hasn’t met the tenant like you have, but will give a pass or fail to them based on paper.

Online tenant screening is an ideal way to put yourself in control of the screening process- so you can see all results and decide yourself if they are right for your property.  The misconception is that tenant checking is time consuming, but with online systems they are as quick as ever.  You can gather a credit check for your tenant in a few minutes and see all details of their financial history and there past addresses for three years.  Just pop in the information and click to run a check. You can do this on the move, and store all result in the system so they are easily accessible whenever you need them.

Online tenant screening is faster and more convenient that using an agency to do exactly what you can do yourself.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/what039s-the-difference-between-an-online-credit-check-and-using-an-agency-2206907.html

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Article Tags:
tenant screening, screening tenants, screen tenants, landlord, letting agents, property, tenant

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Rensselaer, NY (PRWEB) February 26, 2006

The Real Estate Agent Referral Network was recently launched to assist future homeowners in locating quality Real Estate Agents Nationwide.

It has recently been reported that the majority of those seeking new home ownership first start their search online. Whether they are looking for MLS services to look for new homes on their own, or seeking the services of a realtor, we feel we have the right tools to offer them in getting started.

The prospective homeowner is able to search by city for a local Real Estate Agent to assist them in finding a new home. Each applicant will have several Realtors referred to them to choose from, free of charge. This is the same philosophy used by mortgage websites promoting “let lenders compete for your business”. In our case however, we are having Real Estate Agents compete for your business at no cost to you.

In addition to the Real Estate Agent locator service there are several other sevices the site offers. You can obtain an online Electronic Appraisal for a small fee, a comparitive market analysis free of charge or link to one of our mortgage lender services. Other features such as online credit check and Multiple Listing Services are available as well. The site has been created with the concept of being a Real Estate Hub for prospective home buyers and sellers.

Our other pages of interest include a daily updated Real Estate news feed from the NY Times as well as a complete listing of Real Estate Agents and directories linked to our site.

This new site http://www.real-estate-agent-referral-network.com is one of several sites being launched by Real Estate Scout LLC to promote referrals for the Real Estate, Building and Mortgage industry’s.

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