A Few Great Reasons To Get Your Free Credit Report
We’ve all seen the funny TV commercials that playfully urge us to get our free credit report. It’s hard to hold back a smile when you see those hapless minstrels singing for their supper. The videos are funny, but the subtext is clear: bad things happen to good people. So maybe you have a good laugh, but are you really thinking, “wow, I’m going turn off the TV, get off the couch and get my free credit report right now”?
Maybe not, but perhaps you really should. Sad but true: when your significant other takes an unauthorized shopping spree just before leaving you for good, or when you become a victim of identity theft, your misfortune may stay on your credit record for a long, long time.
What are good reasons to check your credit score? We can put them into two categories: Possibilities and Responsibilities. A fine credit score can open Possibilities to enhance your lifestyle. On the other hand, a not-so-fine score could impede your efforts to meet your most basic Responsibilities.
Under Privileges, I’ll list some of life’s finer things: gold cards, home equity loans and car notes. Under Duties, I’ll call out paying automobile insurance and holding down a job. I’m happy to inform you that there is a way to get proactive about all this: I have the legal right to get my free credit report once every twelve months from the big three reporting agencies.
Most people know that a lender will check your credit score before making a loan, but not all of us know that a less-than-stellar credit report can adversely affect your insurance rates, or even prevent you from getting a job! True story: a friend of mine graduated top of his class from a reputable business school, interviewed for a prestigious corporate job, and received a good news/bad news phone call the very next day. The HR manager informed him that the company wanted to offer him a job, but could not make the offer because of his credit record!
I’m glad to inform you that my good friend obtained a free credit report, cleaned up a small issue he found in it, and managed to save the job. If only those awesome free credit report TV spots had been airing, he may have thought to check his credit score before the HR run-in.
So now that I’ve given you some great advice, I’m thinking it might be time to get my free credit report again. After all, it has been over a year since I last did it, and who knows what bad things may have happened to my credit record since then?
Want to check your credit score range today? For clear, up-to-date information about how I got my free credit report, visit the link.
