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How often should you check
up on your credit? You'll read "once a year" in a
lot of places. Certainly, more often than that is overkill for
most people.
Still, the best answer for any individual will
depend on a number of personal and financial variables. What
are your future borrowing needs? How much capital do you have
at risk? What's your current credit exposure? How much can you
tolerate the unknown?
See if you identify with any of the following
situations, then use it to base your credit-checking behavior.
I have not recently been denied credit and
I have no near-term plans to borrow or open a credit card account.
Well, aren't you a goody-two-shoes? (We only jest because we're
jealous.) Seriously, though, what you don't know can hurt you.
It can take a while to clean up mistakes or establish credit
if you need to. So if home-buying plans are on the horizon (even
within a few years), you can't check your file too early. Successful
home purchases rely heavily on timing. Better to check your
credit file ahead of time, rather than wait for the verdict
from the creditor.
Also, look ahead towards other possible loans
(a car, perhaps?) and credit card needs. Major life changes,
like divorce, can also be triggers for checking your credit
history.
Perhaps the best reason for checking your credit
files periodically is the potential for identity theft, an increasingly
common problem.
Lastly, if you do truly lead a dull credit existence,
the only reason to check it may be to appease your vanity. This
is one of the few times in life you can see yourself (at least
your financial self) exactly as others see you. (Well, Larry
the Lender, anyways.) Heck, if you have a stellar report, print
it out and brag about it at cocktail parties.
I have been denied credit.
If you have been denied credit, first, ignore the late-night
TV spokesman offering to give you credit no matter what. (You'd
think he'd be able to afford a better suit given his loan practices.)
Ask the lender who turned you down whether a credit
report was used in making the decision. If one was, you get
a free copy of your report. There may be a simple error and
a simple correction.
Article continued at http://www.fool.com/ccc/check/check03.htm
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