Government cracking down on free credit report websites

Government now demanding that 'free credit reports' must be just that: free.

New post at Credit.com to their affiliates warns that all websites offering such products must comply with FTC rules:

Effective April 1, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission's Free Credit Reports Rule will require new prominent disclosures in all online advertisements for "free credit reports." Any site marketing free credit reports will be required to include a disclosure across the top of each page stating:

THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV.
You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com
or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.

The disclosures must also include a clickable button to "Take me to the authorized source" and clickable links to AnnualCreditReport.com and FTC.GOV.

This will help end the confusion, since consumers have complained that they log onto websites seeking a free credit report and/or credit score, and they must pay for 3-in-1 credit monitoring or pay for other services to actually GET the freebie adverised.

You can get free information on downloading, reading, disputing and cleaning up your credit reports from the Big 3 credit reporting agencies - TransUnion, Experian and Equifax -- by visiting our totally-free, no-fee website, http://www.findhow2.com

How to check your credit score for free

There's a lot of questions you'll ask yourself when you are attempting to restore your credit score: What's my credit score? How to I check my credit report? Can you check your credit score at the free website like www.annualcreditreport.com?

Online credit scores can give you a ballpark credit rating. But the best way and the cheapest way to get a free credit score is simply to drive over to your local bank branch and apply for a home loan. No, you don't want to buy a new home; don't tell them this, but you simply want to get your free credit score in the real world.

Sometimes, your bank will charge you a fee to get your credit report and scores. It's often less than $50. If it's more than that, try another bank.

Is this free credit score check wrong? No. Look at it this way: in the event that you view credit report as your first step toward building your wealth portfolio, you could likely be back at this bank once you find a valuable investment property. The right deal could pop up next week. Since you now don't have to ask the bank "Check my credit" to see if you qualify for the deal, you can focus your time and energy on negotiating the best terms and the lowest price.

At that time, your bank will be more than happy you chose them to check your credit score when you did!

If you find you need to fix your credit score, learn the free tips on how to improve your credit yourself at http://www.findhow2.com.

Amazon.com offers more advice on how to improve your credit rating yourself:

How To Repair & Improve Your Credit Score In A Few Simple Steps Without Credit Repair Companies

101 Simple Ways to Easily Improve Your Credit Score: Quick and simple ways to get started immediately.

Your Credit Score, Your Money & What's at Stake (Updated Edition): How to Improve the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial Future

Good credit depends on proper credit reporting

Don't think good credit is important? Wrong. Good credit is essential if you want to qualify for loans to buy a business, a new auto, a new home. Bad credit costs. Getting your free credit report is of little value if you don't know how important correct credit reporting methods are to your financial health.

Hear what these three credit expert resources are saying on the subject of credit reporting:

From www.Experian.com:

Credit Check: Why Should I Care?

Why is it important to check your Experian credit report regularly? Many people frequently pay attention to their credit scores when they buy big-ticket items such as a new car or a home. While these are some of the most familiar reasons consumers monitor their credit reports, credit scores and reports actually are used for many other reasons as well. A good credit score can get you better rates on common necessities such as car insurance premiums, cell phone contracts and apartment rental agreements. Some employers even check prospective employees’ credit reports before making final hiring decisions. In addition, despite increased public awareness of identity theft, the crime continues to grow. Therefore, monitoring your credit report and score has never been more important.

From the FTC:

Having a good credit report means it will be easier for you to get loans and lower interest rates. Lower interest rates usually translate into smaller monthly payments.
Information about you and your credit experiences, like your bill-paying history, the number and type of accounts you have, late payments, collection actions, outstanding debt, and the age of your accounts, is collected from your credit application and your credit report. Using a statistical formula, creditors compare this information to the credit performance of consumers with similar profiles. A credit scoring system awards points for each factor. A total number of points — a credit score — helps predict how creditworthy you are; that is, how likely it is that you will repay a loan and make the payments on time. Generally, consumers who are good credit risks have higher credit scores.

From the website www.debtworkout.com:

Many of those unfamiliar with credit reports share a mistaken belief that credit reports display a near perfect accuracy. In reality errors on a credit report occur with alarming frequency. Reporting agencies rarely verify or cross check information unless they have a specific reason to do so. Therefore it becomes the obligation of each individual to verify the accuracy of their own credit report and begin the process of correcting inaccuracies of the credit report.

Learn more with these resources available from Amazon.com and take action to fix credit and boost your credit score as soon as possible:

The Road to 850: Proven Strategies for Increasing Your Credit Score

You're Nothing but a Number - Why achieving great credit scores should be on your list of wealth building strategies

Credit Report and Score: Secrets of the Credit Reporting Agencies

Credit cards to rebuild credit

If you want to restore your credit, rebuilding your credit rating using credit cards is perhaps the easiest way to accomplish your goal.

Secured credit cards offer convenience while at the same time an excellent opportunity to fix bad credit.

Credit comes to those who work hard to keep good credit, and a secured credit card will help anyone reestablish credit -- not by repairing credit history, but by demonstrating responsible use of credit now and in the future.

Two good reasons to seek out the best secured credit card for credit restoration:

Clean up your credit history -- Secured credit card accounts will allow anyone who manages his or her credit card balance with discipline and timely payments the seocnd chance to enjoy better credit scores and qualify for the things good credit can deliver: a new car loan, a new home loan, a new student loan when college is in your future.

Rebuilding credit after bankruptcy -- Following your discharge from bankruptcy, you will find the going rough unless you reestablish credit. A secured credit card from a reputable company could be your ticket to gaining the trust of other lenders. And, you will be in control this time to charge just enough to show up in the credit system, but not enough to make timely monthly payments impossible!

Establishing credit for the first time -- If you've never used credit before it will be hard to qualify for a loan. Having a solid history using a secured credit card will help you get credit and teach you responsible payment lessons for the real-world to boot!

Credit.com offers a wide selection of secured credit card offers for those with bad credit scores. Review these cards and apply for the secured credit card that makes you the best deal.

Importance of re-establishing credit

After you've gone through a spell of bad credit, whether it was due to bankruptcy or divorce or a business failure or a failure of good, sound financial judgment, it's important to re-establish your credit. It won't happen overnight. But today you can take the first step down the path toward better credit. Here are a number of tips to help you get started:

Do some soul searching to discover what happened. Put your finger on what went wrong. Accept responsibility, even if you have proof that it wasn't all your fault. That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is getting on with repairing your finances. Be a leader. Take the blame. Then move on.

Take out a legal pad and write down your credit goals: a new unsecured credit card within 6-12 months. A business loan within 6 months. A new car loan without exhorbinant interest rates within 6 months. Write the goals down and review them daily. They will keep you on track. They will guide you to what you must do next. They will give you focus.

On the next page, make an inventory of where your money comes from and where it goes. If you get paid every other week and your bills are scattered throughout the month, plan for that. You cannot afford late payments, so you will need to use this income-outgo data go plan when to make payments so that you are never late again. Repeat after me: "I will never be late again paying a bill. Ever." Now keep your word. Pay your bills before they are due.

On the third page of this legal pad, write down your own personal plan to become debt free of all high-interest consumer debt within a specific amount of time. This will require that you know how much you owe on all your department store charge accounts and all your credit and loan accounts. Make a list of the total balance, the minimum monthly, the date due and the interest rate you're being charged. Important tip: don't leave anything out. Yes, put your house payment in there even if you've decided to exclude that debt from your debt-elimination plan for the time being. Tackle the smaller, monthly, high-interest bills first. You can always come back to pay off your home loan later. For now, tally up what you owe, then take the charge and credit cards out of your wallet or purse, lock them away at home, and don't leave home WITH them! Stop the credit accumulation. You're on a quest to get rid of debt, not add to it.

Repair your credit. Do it yourself. We have all the free tips listed on our website: http://www.findhow2.com/repair-credit.html. Bookmark that page and refresh your mind with those free tips at least once a week to make sure you're staying on track to fix your own credit. You'll find the free sites to download your credit reports to seek out outdated key derogatory marks and any errors that might have crept into your credit history by mistake. Plus, you'll find links to free sample letters on how you can dispute these credit report errors.

Fifth step: don't let anyone stop you. And don't stop yourself. You'll find plenty of friends and strangers who will make the time to discourage you, and tell you this can't be done. That only the passage of time will help you improve your credit rating. While time does heal most credit wounds, you've still got to take a pro-active role in re-establishing your own better credit score. But seeking out new loans and unsecured credit cards after you've got your debt loan under control, you'll open up new financial options for yourself. You'll short-circuit the credit restoration period from several years to 6-12 months. You don't need to listen to naysayers or those who perhaps unintentionally are rooting for your failure; you do need, however, to keep taking daily steps to restore your credit as you re-establish your ability to apply for and get credit in the future.

Here's some of our favorite books available from Amazon.com to help you stay on track re-establishing credit:

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

How To Achieve A Better Credit Score

Living Well with Bad Credit: Buy a House, Start a Business, and Even Take a VacationNo Matter How Low Your Credit Score

BestCredit: How to Win the Credit Game, 2nd Edition

Choosing best balance transfer depends on circumstances

It's obvious that there are huge differenes in credit card offers these days. Some offer a balance transfer rate of 0% ranging anywhere from 6-12 months at a time. Others will feature longer time to enjoy the lower rates if you agree to a higher interest rate,which is helpful because this rate is usually lower that what you are currently paying on credit card balances.
Consumers who contemplate a credit card balance transfer of a high dollar amount to help cut down interest that they owe will often decide that stretching out their repayment period at a higher interest intro rate makes sense over a short-term 0% offer.
You've got to get aware of what fees you will get charged too. Lately, balance transfer fees have risen. It wasn't long ago that common fees charges amounted to 3% of the total transferred; now, it seems many credit card companies are charging upwards of 5%.
You can find more information on this subject here:
http://www.creditcard-balance-transfer.com

Here's a book at Amazon.com that readers are raving about. It aims to help them learn ins and outs of credit cards. Take a look:

How You Can Profit from Credit Cards: Using Credit to Improve Your Financial Life and Bottom Line