credit reporting

Get a free credit report once a year from AnnualCreditReport.com, a site sponsored by the three major credit reporting companies, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. You can request your free credit report online, over the phone or via the mail. The last two options are not instantaneous,...

How important is your credit score? Important enough, but some industry analysts worry that consumers focus too much on credit ratings when they have other, larger financial issues to consider first.

By now, most WalletPop readers are aware of how important a good credit score is. But you're not alone if you're confused about what makes up that score and how much each of those components matter. We talked to Barry Paperno, consumer operations manager for FICO, the organization to which the...

Beginning in July, consumers burned by a merchant erroneously reporting something to a credit reporting agency can take their case directly to that company as well as to the credit bureaus. CreditCards.com has a story summarizing the news (we've also written in more detail about how to dispute an...

You may never know when it happens, but lenders may begin guessing your income before they approve your credit application when the new Credit CARD Act takes effect on February 22. The new law requires lenders to consider your ability to pay any new or additional debt before approving a credit...

Heavily marketed credit monitoring services were dealt a serious blow by a federal judge who stopped one of the biggest of the firms from placing "fraud alerts" on behalf of their customers.The credit reporting agency Experian sued the monitoring firm Lifelock, alleging its automated system of...

I just signed up to be on a game show. Or it feels like it, anyway.Less than an hour ago, I happened to be reading the AARP Bulletin, which has a story this week about a $75 million class action lawsuit settlement with TransUnion, one of the three major credit-reporting bureaus. If you took out a...

We don't mean to get too personal, but what's your score? We're talking about your credit score, of course. A few years back, no one knew their credit score. Today, people brag (or complain) about it at cocktail parties and compare scores over the water cooler at work! That's because knowing your...

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's First Family of Personal Finance, answer your money questions every Friday. Dear Ken and Daria, My husband and I received our free credit report; however we could not get our credit scores unless we paid for them. Is this customary and lawful or am I missing...