Recently, I looked for several ways to attain a construction/ small business loan to rehab a home. Got me thinking about credit scores and business plans etc...
Sam Chapman at the Austin Real Estate News gives us a nice little reminder on how to check your credit several times a year
Free Annual Credit Report
by Sam Chapman
There is something about the government mandated free annual credit report that I didn't think of until I checked my credit report recently. First, http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ is where you go to get your free annual credit report. Don't go to other sites. When you get your free credit report, you can get it from one of the big three credit reporting agencies or all three.
What you get is a very detailed history of who you have credit with. You also get a list of inquiries that have been made. What you don't get for free is your FICO score. This is the magic number you hear about all the time. You can get your FICO score for a small fee. Getting back to what I discovered that I would have known if I had thought about it a little more, you can pull your credit three times a year.
How, you ask? When you get your report the first time, get it from just one agency. Four months later, get it from the next agency. Four months later, get it from the third agency. If you do this, you can truly study your credit history year round. This is valuable not only so you can know the state of your credit and how your FICO score changes, but it is a smart thing to to protect against identity theft. Worried about how pulling your credit report might affect your credit? Don't be. From what I understand, going through this site the pulls don't affect anything.
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