Getting Your Credit Reports

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0c42d5a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Attorney Gordon Leech, Wisconsin Consumer & Employment Lawyer</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Attorney Gordon Leech, Wisconsin Consume"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rights to Fair Credit Reporting"><U>Rights to Fair Credit Reporting</U></A>   |   <B>Getting Your Credit Reports</B>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Checking Accuracy of Credit Reports"><U>Checking Accuracy of Credit Reports</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Disputing Credit Report Entries"><U>Disputing Credit Report Entries</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="073d2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <A HREF="credit_report_disputes__what_to_do__know_your_rights.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Credit Report Disputes Claims"><U>Back to Credit Reports Disputes and Claims Overview</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="100b2de0.jpg" border=0 width="178" height="222" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <I>To Reach Us Now, Click Here</I></div> <div>  <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="https://clients4.google.com/voice/embed/webCallButton" width="230" height="85"><param name="movie" value="https://clients4.google.com/voice/embed/webCallButton" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="FlashVars" value="id=c2067a3f5f8852901afc2a6c65cd1636f45b51b2&style=0" /></object>  </div> <div> Attorney Gordon Leech</div> <div> Shareholder</div> <div> Rose & deJong, SC</div> <div> 161 S. 1st St., Suite 400</div> <div> Milwaukee, WI 53204</div> <div> 414-678-1681</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:gleech@attorneyleech.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:gleech@attorneyleech.com"><U>grl@rosedejong.com</U></A></div> <bR> <div> Potential claim?  <A HREF="potential_claim_inquiry.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Potential Claim Inquiry"><U>Click Here</U></A>.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Getting Your Credit Reports</I></div> <div> <B>Your Right to a Free Copy of Your Credit Reports [</B><A HREF="credit_report_disputes__what_to_do__know_your_rights37_m.htm" TITLE="Getting Your Credit Reports"><U><B>Back to Top</B></U></A><B>]</B></div> <div> The first step in any credit reporting issue is to get a copy of your credit reports with each of the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  You have a right to a free copy of your credit reports from each of the 3 major credit reporting agencies.  To get your free copy, you can order it through the website set up by the Federal Trade Commission at <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.annualcreditreport.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.annualcreditreport.com"><U>www.annualcreditreport.com</U></A></FONT>.  You can also order it by mail using the form provided at that website, or download it by <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id35_fair_credit_issues_1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Downloads"><U>clicking here</U></A></FONT>.  After getting your annual credit report, you should check all the entries to see what if any do not belong to you.  These would be accounts that you never opened or you closed and therefore should not show any activity.  You may likely find entires for people with similar names, that live near you, relatives, etc.  Particularly if the information reported is negative, like "in collections," or late payment history or financial insitutions checking your credit in relation to a request for credit, you should correct this information because it is probably affecting the price you pay for credit, preventing you from getting credit or even increasing your costs for insurance and other necessities.  To correct the information, you need to send the credit reporting agency that is reporting the bad information notice of your dispute over the specific items.  See below for more information on <B>Disputing Credit Reports</B>.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Ordering Your Credit Reports from Fee-based Paid Sources</B></div> <div> You can also order your credit reports for a fee from many online sources or from www.annualcreditreport.com.  You will have to pay for your credit reports if you already recieved your free reports in the past year and no other exception applies, such as the denial of credit within 60 days or possible identity fraud.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Credit Monitoring and Other Fee Services</B></div> <div> When you order your credit reports, be careful about other services the source may try selling you.  Many want you to sign up for credit or identity theft insurance, access to your consumer reports on an ongoing basis, credit monitoring (notice when your report changes), and other services.  Consider whether you really need these services, and try to find out other consumer's experiences with the particular company if you think you want to buy the service.  Also, the service is likely to require mandatory binding arbitration should the service not perform its promises to you, which is a significant issue if you are buying some type of insurance or credit monitoring service.  This may mean that if you have a dispute, you may lose your right to file your claim locally, in your area, and the right to have your claim heard by a jury of your peers and instead you will have to file a claim in some location picked by the vendor and have the claim heard by some smaller group of people that likely handle these claims for the vendor on a frequent basis.  Most consumer advocates feel that mandatory arbitration in consumer matters strips consumers of significant rights and is against consumer interests in many other ways.</div> <bR> <div> <B>[</B><A HREF="credit_report_disputes__what_to_do__know_your_rights37_m.htm" TITLE="Getting Your Credit Reports"><U><B>Back to Top</B></U></A><B>]</B></div> <bR> <div> To find more information on Credit Report errors, how to dispute credit report entries and your rights with regard to credit, visit my site at <A HREF="http://www.myfaircredit.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.myfaircredit.com"><U>www.MyFairCredit.com</U></A>.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Attorney Gordon Leech</div> <div> Rose & deJong, SC</div> <div> 161 S. 1st St., Suite 400</div> <div> Milwaukee, WI 53204</div> <div> Tel: 414-678-1681</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:gleech@attorneyleech.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:gleech@attorneyleech.com"><U>grl@rosedejong.com</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.attorneyleech.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.attorneyleech.com"><U>www.AttorneyLeech.com</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>