West Palm Beach bankruptcy attorney

Free Yearly Credit Report

Most consumers don’t pay attention to their credit score nearly enough. This is probably one of the reasons Americans have found themselves in much more debt than they really want. Credit seemed all too elusive for the average consumer until Capitol Hill passed a law that granted every citizen the right to view his credit report for free at least once a year.

Before getting into the details of how this is accomplished, we must understand what credit reports are and how they work. The credit report and credit score is managed by three different companies: Transunion, Experian, and Equifax. Each of these organizations has a different method for calculating the credit score of an individual. This can be very confusing and complicated because a person’s score can be very good with one organization and not so good with another.

Another very interesting point is that some creditors may report your credit to only one of the organizations. Other creditors may report to all of them. For this reason, the best strategy is to request your credit report from all of the organizations at once.

There are a number of different websites on the internet that can give you access to your free credit report. Viewing your credit report at least once a year is very good for many reasons. First and foremost, it protects against identity theft. Many people do not find out that their identity has been stolen until they find a negative claim on the report. Unfortunately, finding out this way is an indication that it may be too late.

Secondly, monitoring your credit will help you fight against going into bankruptcy by planning out your finances.

If you or someone you know would like to explore various options regarding bankruptcy, contact the experienced West Palm Beach bankruptcy attorneys of the Eric N. Klein law firm at 561.353.2800.