It is important to make sure your credit report is accurate because every time you apply for credit to buy something (house, car, store credit card) the creditor will take a look at your score and decide how much to loan you. Therefore, you don’t want any inaccurate, negative items effecting your score.

As chapter 9 of Debt Cures explains, getting your credit report is easy. U.S. law says that every citizen is entitled to a free annual credit report from each of the major credit agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian). One of the fastest and easiest ways to get your reports from all of the credit bureaus is to order them online from FreeCreditReports360.com. One of the advantages of ordering your report from this site is that you get access to all your information immediately. Other methods of ordering require that your report be mailed to your home and that takes much longer.

The purpose of reviewing your credit report is to look for inaccurate and fradulent items on the report. Identity theft is a serious problem in America and it’s important to make sure that everything on your credit score looks familiar to you. If anything doesn’t look right, don’t be afraid to initiate a dispute. However, if you see something on your credit report that looks funny, don’t immediately assume that your identity has been stolen, it is also possible that there was a simple human error. Either way, it’s important to get it fixed.

Don’t be lazy! This is one of the easiest things that you can do to take control of your financial situation.

>>Click Here For Your Free Credit Report<<

Kevin Trudeau writes that 90% of credit reports have errors so make sure to review your report closely and dispute any errors you might find. You owe it to yourself and your family.

Remember that the Debt Cures techniques are a two step process. You get out of bad debt first, after reading the book you now know how to beat the big banks and credit card companies. You know their system and you now know how to beat it. Once it is beaten, you are now ready for the second step of building your wealth.

You are out of debt and you are learning to stay out of debt. But that doesn’t mean you do not need credit. You still need it and in fact you will use good credit to build wealth. That’s why you need to stay on top of your credit at all times. Don’t just eliminate your debt, but continue to follow Trudeau’s steps. Keep your financial statements up to date, don’t close out you credit cards – keep them to show that you can pay creditors over a long period of time. Continue to pay on time and to pay your minimum payment or more. Good credit now can mean more good credit in the future, along with the benefits that good credit will bring.

You want to stay away from high interest rates and penalties but good credit will help you obtain the funds you need for the lifestyle you want to live. Trudeau gives more tips in Chapter 21 to improving your credit score, including getting a co-signer for a loan and piggybacking with someone else for credit. He provides greater detail in the book, but remember when you were a teenager and wanted a car? You might have had your parents co-sign the loan in order for you to get the car. If you have someone with good credit co-sign a loan for you, that will improve your credit score. With piggybacking, you have someone with good credit add you to their credit card. You don’t use the card but you benefit from their better credit score. Make sure you know the rules before doing so, and make sure you make any payments you are obligated to because you do not want to ruin any friendships. But you improve your credit score by working with others.

Also, consider an installment loan to help pay down bills. Go to your bank or credit union and get a small loan with a one or two year repayment period. Make all your payments, this will show up on your credit report as a positive and improve your score. A secured credit card is also a good idea, especially if you have children going to college. With a secured credit card, the user cannot spend over a set amount. It is another way to create a new good mark on your credit. Debt Cures encourages you to keep up the good work you have been doing and take the steps on the way to wealth.

Debt collectors have two ways that they make money, and both involve getting you to pay them. The first is when the card companies ask the collectors to get money from their customers on current debt, the debt collectors will then receive a large percentage of the money they bring in. Often, the card companies will sell their oldest debt to collectors, the collectors are paying pennies on the dollar and whatever money they get is nearly all profit. Under either system, the more money the collectors get, the greater their profit will be and the higher the commissions for the people doing the dirty work.

Many people have been put through trauma by debt collectors, but Trudeau says once you know your rights, you can fight back successfully. Of course the best defense is not falling behind, but that may be too late at this point, so Trudeau says he will equip you to fight back.

One of the few steps the federal government has taken to protect you (the consumer) is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act initially passed in 1977. Trudeau goes through the rights granted to you in Debt Cures. A few that you might not be aware of include your right not to receive any collection calls after 8PM your time, that they cannot contact you at work without your permission, and that they are not allowed to talk to anyone but yourself. Check the book to get the details on these and other tips.

Collectors are trained to be aggressive and many are not afraid to lie or bend and break the rules. Trudeau says the first step you should take is to write down notes of any calls you receive or call backs that you make. Tell them to only communicate in writing and not call back. Make sure you keep your notes and copies of any communication you send to the collectors or anything you receive from them. Don’t fall for their intimidation tactics. Remember, you have power to act against them.

Remember the financial statements Trudeau talked about earlier in the book? Use them again if a collector calls you. If you are not able to pay, and the debt is valid (yes, collectors will try to collect debts you never had, or debts past the statute of limitations) you may need to negotiate with them. They will try to bully you, but don’t let them. You might be surprised at how quickly they back down if you act professionally and provide them with the facts. Respect yourself; you have a much greater value than people who make their livelihood off of others who are suffering. Debt Cures shows you how to arm yourself with information so you can escape the nightmare of collection calls.

Your credit score is calculated using an algorithm, a fancy word for complex mathematical formula. After all your information is thrown into a computer your score will come out between 300 and 850 points. In the past the banks wanted to lend only to people with high scores, because they represent the lowest risk. Now they want to lend to people with average or below average scores, because the profits are in the penalties, fees and additional interest they earn when you get behind in payments.

Remember your credit score is nothing personal. The credit reporting companies do not take into consideration your weight, race, religion or nationality. They don’t care if you root for the New York Yankees or the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s a cold hard look at your financial numbers. They are looking at how your financial numbers are painting your life. Not only do creditors look at your credit score, but many employers will check your credit score as part of the hiring process.

With three credit reporting companies a good question is how will banks determine my score if all three scores are different? Trudeau explains that they will take the middle score. If you have scores of 680, 710, and 750, then your credit score will reflect the middle 710. It is not based on your average. Each company uses a slightly different formula to compile your score so it is not uncommon to have three different scores. Also, there is a difference between your credit score and your credit report. The score is simply your number, the report provides details such as how much you owe and who you owe it to.

In general, there are five areas that go into your score:

1. Payment history
2. Amounts you owe
3. Length of your credit history
4. Types of credit used
5. New credit.

Trudeau provides details on each of these areas along with their importance.

Banks will almost always use credit reports from all three companies while department stores may only use one. So it is important that you get and clean up all three credit reports. Remember the companies have to provide you with a free credit report annually thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It may also be advantageous to pay a small fee to get an updated credit report a few months after your review, to see if the corrections have been made and to see how much your score has improved. With an improved credit score, you can now save hundreds or thousands of dollars by improving the interest rate on current and future credit. You’ve started down the right path to curing the debt, now Kevin Trudeau wants to keep you moving down that path in future chapters of Debt Cures.

There are three companies in the United States that create credit reports, and each of the companies is required to provide you with a copy of the report at your request once a year. Don’t worry, Trudeau provides you with the contact information for each of the companies. So getting you report is easy. Once you get your report you will need to go over it thoroughly.

There are four main areas on your report: 1.) Personal Information, 2.) Credit Information, 3.) Public Record Information, and 4.) Inquiries.

Personal information is your name, date of birth, address etc. This is very important as it is not uncommon to find someone else’s information here. Imagine seeing that someone with the same name as yours in another city has bad credit, and it’s showing up on your report. This is a quick and easy fix.

Credit information is the good, the bad, and the ugly. This will show your loan and credit history. Make sure this is accurate, if you have paid off a loan, and the report shows it is still active, you will want to get this straightened out.

Public Record information could be a legal judgment or a tax lien. Again, you want to verify that the information is accurate.

The last section is inquiries. This is the part of the report that shows who is checking you out. Each time someone checks your credit history it will show up on this report. Every credit card that you have applied for will show up on this report, and each inquiry will bring down your credit score. That’s why you should not be applying for every credit card offer in the mail or at every store in your local mall.

Your credit score will fall between 300 and 850 reports. The higher the better, if you are average or slightly below average, then the credit card companies will come after you because you are likely to get behind slightly and they make money off of you.

Trudeau lists several ways to improve your credit. The most important thing involves contacting the credit reporting companies so that you can correct any inaccuracies. This can be done on the telephone, online or by snail mail. The dispute process is free, and must be completed by the companies within 30 days. If they cannot justify the dispute you win and it will be taken off of your report. Make sure you check each of the three reports carefully, as an error may only be on one of the reports. If it is on all three reports, then you will have to open three disputes. Again, Trudeau lays it all out clearly in Debt Cures.

As Kevin Trudeau maintains throughout Debt Cures, you need to take control and be in charge of your financial life and not allow the credit card companies to run your life.

To fight back Trudeau says you must take a good look at your current financial situation. If you were sick, then you would want your doctor to give a thorough examination before diagnosing the illness and before issuing orders for your recovery. The same with your financial health take a good look at how you got into the situation, but more importantly know your current finances to help you fight back. Trudeau wants to show you how to get out of bad debt and then use good debt to build wealth. No longer do you need to be bullied around, it is time to win.

The best place to start to determine your financial health is with your credit report and your credit score. The credit card companies and other lenders will always use these to determine the amount of credit they’ll give you and your interest rate. The higher the score, the better for you. Don’t go into bankruptcy when there are ways to get you out of debt without the sting of bankruptcy.

There are three lending companies in the United States who provide credit reports to lenders. They use a scoring system which grades you between 300 and 850 points. Unlike golf, you want as high of score as possible. The three companies will look at how deep in debt you are, how much available credit you have, whether you pay your bills on time and other detailed information about your finances. What they want to determine is will you repay this debt. It is strictly a numbers game; it doesn’t look at anything other than your current or past finances. While it is a good tool for lenders to have, the credit report can be a poor system for consumers.

While you would think that only a few people would get to look at your credit report, you might be surprised at who can view it. In addition to your bank or credit card company, your current employer or a prospective employer can review your credit report, as can your insurance company or your landlord. To no surprise, the government also has access to your credit report. The good news is you are also entitled to see your credit report. In the coming chapters of Debt Cures, Trudeau will go into detail on not only how to get your credit report, but also how to read the report, and how to improve your score. This will help you create wealth for yourself and to win the fight against high debt and the lenders.