In the last post I talked about my transfer across the country and how I was feeling my way around an area that was completely new to me. After several months in a rental – and feeling better about the town and my likelihood of staying with my company – I decided to begin looking for a house to buy. Once I found it and everything was put into motion I was completely dumbstruck to be informed that I was unlikely to receive mortgage approval because of my credit report. This was news to me. I had always thought my credit report was fine and was under the impression that everything was okay because I had received a pre-approval from the mortgage company.

I was sent into a whirlwind that left me emotionally drained. In the end we were able to address the items on my credit report and find another lender that would eventually approve me for a mortgage. Thankfully because it is a buyer’s market and there wasn’t a lot of competition on the horizon, the sellers were willing to wait for me and thanks to them I was still able to get into the home that I loved.

But boy did I learn a lesson! Never again would I be caught off guard by something so monumentally important. The issues on my credit report were two unpaid bills that I didn’t even know existed, let alone know how much they were impacting my credit score. Had I been receiving free credit reports on a regular basis I would have been alerted to the existence of these bills and could have taken care of them before being surprised during the mortgage process; a mistake I will never repeat. Starting right when I closed on the house I ordered free credit reports and will continue to do so each and every year so that I am well aware of what is going on my credit report before anyone else becomes aware first.

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