Sarah Dinkins asked:




Though such procedure may be a good suggestion, you may wonder whether it’s the optimal procedure in your particular case and whether it is worth the money it cost. Let’s analyze its benefits and drawbacks and what other alternatives you may have.

Credit monitoring is the key to avoiding identity theft; yet, it is not the only measure you can take in order to impede unscrupulous people from obtaining your credit details and social security number to use them for their advantage. There are other things you can do to reduce the risk of being a victim of identity theft and you can even monitor your credit yourself without hiring third party services.

Credit Monitoring Services Explained

A credit monitoring service provides you with updated information as regards to any access to your credit report. Whenever your credit report is pulled, you’ll receive an alert stating why and by whom was it pulled. Thus, you’ll be able to know immediately if your credit report was pulled with or without your authorization and how does that affect your credit score and history.

Any new account or credit line opened will immediately pop up and you’ll be notified. Thus, you’ll know right away if someone is using your name for illegal activities. This is very important because not only your credit can be affected by these practices, you may also have legal problems due to it which can turn out too costly and you can easily avoid them by using such services.

Finally, all other information included in your credit report is monitored, which implies that if any detail is changed for whatever purpose, you’ll be immediately notified so you can analyze whether it is a result of your actions or if there is someone else acting in your name. This lets you act immediately and take the necessary measures to avoid damage to your credit and assets.

Protecting Your Credit And Monitoring It Yourself

In order to protect your credit and identity, you need to be specially careful as to where you use your personal information like your full name, social security number, etc. This information should only be used and known by you unless needed otherwise due to justified reasons. If you need to use this information online, make sure the site is secure and if you doubt, ask for references before submitting such information.

The same goes to other critical details like credit card numbers, bank account numbers and codes, etc. Should you be asked by representatives for that information, make sure that they are entitled to it due to a request made by you and ask for confirmation that your information will be kept safe. There are online companies that can provide confirmation of the reliability and trustworthiness of online companies. Consult them whenever you think it’s necessary.

Though monitoring services provide continued updates on any access to your accounts and credit report, remember that you are entitled to requesting (free of charge) a copy of your credit report stating recent accesses to your credit history from each credit bureau, at least once a year.

Richard

madeline4477 asked:


I owe something. they report it on my credit every week I know this because I have a credit monitoring service. can they just keep re reporting it on my credit every week?

no answers about just pay it..I know that.. I will ignore those answers and that wasnt my question
I dont want to know how long it will be on there! I wish people would read the questions.. I am asking how many times can they re report it. they are reporting it once a week its on there once with re reports every week

Jeffery

nirvanas_love_01 asked:


a couple weeks ago My husband and i pulled a trimerge at our mortgage lender. My husbands scores were 592 618 644. Today I enrolled in credit monitoring and his scores were 611 627 628. How accurate are these scores if the lender would pul them again? DO the scores vary depending on who pulls them or will the scores he pulls be the same on our credit monitoring report?
a couple weeks ago My husband and i pulled a trimerge at our mortgage lender. My husbands scores were 592 618 644. Today I enrolled in credit monitoring and his scores were 611 627 628. How accurate are these scores if the lender would pul them again? DO the scores vary depending on who pulls them or will the scores he pulls be the same on our credit monitoring report? I know they vary from each reporting bureau I want to know if they vary depending on what type of company pulls the report

Ricky

Roger Passman asked:




In my work I speak to many people that have unrealistic, almost grandiose, ideas about repairing their credit. My response to the person whose expectations exceed the limits of the possible is to send them to someone else. One of the factors contributing to damaged credit in the first instance is that attention is not paid to the possible allowing grandiose ideas to stand in the way of sound financial planning.

When working to repair one’s credit there are three factors that must be considered. First, is the item you would like removed from your credit report legitimate? If it is it will generally stay a part of your report until time takes care of the item. Secondly, how old is the item you would like removed? The further away from the present the item is the less it impacts your FICO score. Finally, what has your credit history been in the past 12 to 18 months? If potential creditors see a pattern of on time payments and sound financial practices, it is more likely that they will offer additional or new credit even if your score remains somewhat damaged.

Credit repair consists of two important stages, both of which mirror the concerns mentioned above. The first stage is to work to remove inaccurate or mistaken information from one’s credit report that have an adverse impact on one’s credit score. Some items may look bad but have little effect on one’s overall score. A tax lien, for example, that has been discharged may continue to appear on one’s credit report for up to ten-years and, under some circumstances, even longer. But that discharged lien has a low impact on one’s overall score and may not be worth the effort to try and remove it. A pattern of late payments, on the other hand, may have a high impact on one’s score and may well be worth the effort to remove or re-age if removal is impossible.

The second stage in credit repair is to make sure that from the moment one begins to actively repair one’s credit that no additional adverse be recorded on the credit report. Not only does that defeat the purpose of the credit repair effort, it sends up red flags for the credit bureaus to not take your repair efforts seriously. That is the last thing one wants when working to restore one’s credit score to acceptable numbers. This stage requires a change in lifestyle, as one must relearn sound fiscal habits that will assure no additional adverse information be recorded by the credit bureaus.

Effective credit repair seeks to eliminate inaccurate, mistaken and unverifiable adverse information from one’s credit report. It cannot remove items that are legitimate, verifiable and true. To claim otherwise is unethical and may even be illegal.

Victor

Eldorado asked:


Every site I go to so far it wants you to sign up for a monitoring fee or wants you to buy three credit scores and reports. I don’t want a score and report smothered in BS.

Alicia

kao asked:


I have a credit monitoring subscription with true credit. I can see all 3 agencies all the time. I can update the reports every 24 hours. I know their addresses. I know how to report inaccuracies.

The problem is: the person on the other end?? What is it about data entry at these agencies just not getting it right? I send info to them which needs correcting and they either input information incorrectly, have wrong spelling, omissions, additions…it just seems that they can never get the corrections right. And all 3 agencies never have the same info. I find Trans Union to be the best, and easiest to deal with, but WHY do Experian and Equifax even exist? They don’t ever seem to have it together.

Anyone have an intelligent approach that might get their attention to focus on the detail that I am trying to fix? Is there ever going to be any chance at consistency? Thanks.

Tina

john c asked:


I was told by a credit repair attorney, they estimate by your job title, which is wrong, because i have several sources of income that is not listed on my credit report. Does anyone really know the answer?

Kelly

Vijeta Bhatia asked:




Many people go for a large portion of their young adult lives causing havoc to their credit history. Others do not make an adequate credit history for themselves at all and are unable to purchase a car or home or other important things without the help of a cosigner. The best method to understand why this all happens can be done through simple credit history and score monitoring. The process is simple and does not require much more than a few pieces of information from the person who is running the check for information about credit history and scoring.

Why credit monitoring is necessary depends on what you need your credit for. Those who have generally good credit may wish to increase their credit score to be able to get a loan for a home in the near future. Those who may be paranoid about their credit score and the possibility of identity theft can use these options to help reduce the instances or take action against any instances whenever they appear on the history report. The process is simple and is important to many people who need to keep tabs on their credit history. Results are often provided within minutes from the time a monitoring query is sent.

Information on why credit monitoring can help restore credit is available. The simple monitoring can show you a list of the items which are negatively affecting an account. These can be contested if they are false or fraudulent to be removed from the credit history with due time. Other people can ensure that their credit history remains in good standing by paying off forgotten debts and restoring the image of their good name in the business world where credit is the epitome of character. The use of these services helps individuals to stay on track and deal with legitimate marks as well as fraudulent ones on their accounts. The process is no longer difficult to carry out and manage, especially if the credit check is for personal use.

Accessing a credit report & monitoring the results is not very difficult to perform. The main pieces of information which will be used are the social security number and the name of the person being checked. This information used in combination can access a large amount of information regarding the status of the credit of the individual. This helps to answer why credit monitoring provides relief and peace of mind. Those who want to know that they are in good standing are always pleased to find out that they are not influenced by negative marks on their score and history report. This also allows individuals to stop credit fraud and the damaging of the personal reputation by halting the negative activities of others on their accounts.

Bernice

meepmeep asked:


I have a visa card through First Financial Bank USA. They have been very generous with my credit limit. I started with $250 a year ago and am now up to $1,800… a little fishy i suppose… but now my credit report shows that I have been making full payments, according to my credit monitoring my score is mid-low risk since my card has a decent limit for a student and is nowhere closed to maxed out. I must say 1st financial bank worries me in some respects since I know they have some shady practices… would it be more advantageous for me to transfer what balance i do have to an amex student card? What does this card offer and what are the fees. 1st financial loves their fees but i feel im ready to move up to a better card. One problem is im unemployed and my parents pay my bill so i will have very little on the credit card but i like to have one for emergencies. Or is it worth switching… I get the impression Amex would require me to have a co-signer which I didnt want to do… any thoughts?

Karl

sam asked:


i ordered this service from bank of america so i want to know if this service give me scores .
by the way i buy $ 12.99 a month
thank you

Katie