In the past, you were not entitled to a free annual credit report unless you were fortunate enough to live in one of the states which required the credit bureaus to provide them to you.  Nowadays, it doesn’t matter which state a person resides in, they are entitled to not one, but three free annual credit reports per year.  One free credit report from each of the three bureaus:

• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion

These reports can be requested all at once, or you may decide to strategically request a report from one of the bureaus every four months giving you an accurate snapshot of your current financial situation throughout the entire year.  Not only are you afforded the opportunity to view your reports once a year, you can also view them as a result of certain circumstances. Here are a few examples:

• An application for credit has been denied
• An application for insurance has been denied
• You’ve lost your job and will be applying for a new job

For those who intend to increase their credit score, ordering a free annual credit report is the first step in seizing control of their financial destiny.  Once in possession of the report one has within their possession the most important tool they need to design a strategy to systematically increase their credit score.

The first and most important step in cleaning up your credit is to check your report for mistakes or inaccurate facts and figures.  You should methodically examine your report line by line to ensure that facts and figures are completely accurate.  You should confirm for yourself as best you can that each negative financial entry only appears once within the entire report.  Upon finding any false facts or dual entries you must either personally or through some sort of legal representation dispute those entries in your report to the respective credit bureau.  Removing false and inaccurate information from within your report will help immensely towards the goal of improving ones credit score.

The next most important step an individual would need to make would be to examine all of the accounts listed as open on the report.  Are there any old, unused accounts listed in the report?  These should be closed by the individual immediately.  An example of another account one might be best served in closing is accounts opened with retail stores.  Do not close ALL credit accounts!  It is best for ones credit to have two or three major credit card accounts open and to use them (wisely) periodically throughout the year in order to show the accounts as active and create a history filled with payment records.

Your next step would be the transfer of balances you have on accounts with high rates of interest over to lower interest rate accounts.  This may not improve your score, but it will ensure that you are paying the lowest rates you can avail yourself to and increase the probability that you will be able to maintain payments even during hard times.  Make certain you understand the terms and conditions of your credit card provider as they may retroactively charge you for interest after a certain period of time or upon failing to make a payment in a timely manner. One it comes to payments, a good rule to follow is to pay at the very least, the minimum payment plus 10 percent.  This ensures that with each payment you are decreasing the principal.

Utilizing your free annual credit report in combination with the methods listed above you will find your credit score increasing in no time.