Free Credit Reports

The Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 entitles you
to a free credit from each major credit bureau (Equifax, Experian and
TransUnion) once a year.

To request a report, visit https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp.

To build a higher credit score, the following strategies are helpful:

• Pay all bills on time. (If you consistently 30 days overdue, your score can drop by as much as 100 points.)

• Think twice before closing accounts. (Lenders are looking for consumers with long credit histories.)

• Minimize credit-card applications. (On average, a consumer has a total of 11 credit obligations.)

• Keep balances low. (Try to spend only 30% of your credit limit.)

The credit score is determined from 300 (the lowest) to 850 (the highest).

The credit score is calculated from the five following categories:

• Payment history (35%)

• length of credit history (15%)

• New credit (10%)

• Types of credit used (10%)

• Debt (30%)