There are many people who may have come across their credit score at some point many months or even years ago when they were applying for a mortgage or other type of loan. And these same people may think that because their credit standing was okay then it is surely going to be okay now. But the truth is, that a credit report can change in an instant and often we are unprepared when we go into the next application process – faced with information we knew nothing of and facing the prospect of being declined for the loan.

The slightest change in your lifestyle can change your credit report and your credit score. Additionally, erroneous information can change your credit report, including those activities associated with identity theft (a more common occurrence now with our growing dependency on the computer and our propensity to store all of our personal information online).

In order to truly be abreast of what is going on with our credit report on a day to day basis we need – as consumers – to take better advantage of our right to get free credit reports. In fact we have the right to receive one free credit report from each of the credit bureaus that hold our financial information – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – every twelve months. Which means, if we rotate between credit bureaus we could receive one free credit report every four months – giving us some insight into our credit standing and what we can do to make improvements; or at least validating to us that all is as it should be and there are no inaccuracies due to creditor error or identity theft.

With free credit reports we can ensure that there are no surprises when it comes to knowing where we stand and that we are always in control of our finances.

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