Government credit reports
There are many countries like United States where different types of loan programs are provided only after getting the credit report of a person. The credit report provides all the details of previous credit facilities enjoyed by a person and timely or late or non-repayments of such facilities. These credit reports provided by various agencies regulated by the federal government and work like a torch-man to such agencies in guiding the efforts for providing credit to such persons. If a person has not repaid the earlier loan taken in time, his credit report would definitely incorporate such factor and as such, the credit report would be imperfect one. In such cases, the lender would not like to treat the customer as standard one in most of cases and the person would have to suffer by way of facing problems in getting the credit facilities and getting it at higher interest rates. So, it can be said that the credit report provided by various government agencies affect the credit taking capabilities of a person to a great extent .
GOVERNMENT CREDIT REPORTS IN UNITED STATES
In United States, there are three agencies that have been authorized by the federal government to issue credit reports. Whether a person desires or not, the three credit reporting agencies viz. Trans Union, Equifax and Experian, have to submit the credit report of a person at least once in a year as per the Fair Credit Reporting Act . This report is issued to all the lenders that make request for the same .
If a person wishes, he can also get his government credit report free of cost by requesting the government agency based in Atlanta in the state of Georgia. This credit report is provided to a person free of cost and can be had by way of mail or phone . Generally a person is able to get the free government credit report within 15 days of making the request . There are some prerequisites for getting the free government credit report . A person is required to give his name, address, social security number or the identification number and date of birth . It is very important to note here that as per the federal law in the United States, a person can obtain his free credit report from the government if he has been denied credit by any financial institution or by other such lender, if any company has taken any type of unfavorable action against him ; when his application for the insurance or employment have been rejected etc .
The reader should note that for getting free credit report from the government agency, a person must make a request for the same within 60 days of receiving the notice relating to the unfavorable action . If a person thinks that his credit report provided by employer, lender etc is inaccurate or is unacceptable, he is entitled to get the free government credit report. In case of identity theft also, a person can demand for the free government credit report . Since the credit report contains all the financial history of a person, it can affect the person in many ways . If a bad credit remark is made in the credit report of a person, it is not removed until 10 years .
THE CONSEQUENCES OF GOVERNMENT CREDIT REPORT
There are many consequences of free government credit report. It is a huge relief for all the people living in United States to get the free government credit report once a year. A person can easily know about his credit score and if he wishes, he can go for taking a loan that can improve his credit rating and scores . Since a person is entitled to get the free report once a year, he can plan for taking loan and other credit facilities accordingly .
It is advised here that even if a person does not require the government credit report for any reason, he should get it once in a year to know if everything is all right or not. This is because it has been seen in many cases that due to identity theft, fraud etc, and a person become a victim of the act that he has never committed. If the free government credit report contains any such mentioning, the person should get the problem fixed, before it affects him in any way or affects his credit score. Since the government free credit report is provided to the person whose name appears in the report, no other person can apply for the free government credit report . In the past years, the free government credit report has helped many people in getting fair treatment and fighting theft, fraud etc. In current times, people living in all the 50 states in U .S can ask for the credit report from various credit rating agencies .
GETTING THE CREDIT REPORT
It is very easy to get the credit report. To help the various people living in different parts of nation, the three credit reporting agencies of United States have built a web site that a person can use to get the free credit report. This web site is annualcreditreport.com. For making a request for the free credit report, a person can also call on 877-322-8228. Apart from the above, if a person wishes, he can also call the credit agencies directly to enquire about the free credit report. But it must be understood here that the free mandated credit report as under the FCRA or the fair credit reporting act can be obtained only at the number mentioned above . To put it simply, a person can get his credit report from three agencies upon his request, but has to pay for it.
Other aspect that needs to be understood for getting the free government credit report in United States is that apart from details like name, social security number, a person is required to disclose some of the information that is known to him only. For example, amount of payment last made towards the loan program etc.
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