Your credit is a very important thing. Many companies use the information on your credit report to justify extending you credit. It also allows companies to know what risks they are taking when they offer you goods and services. Insurance companies even use your credit rating to adjust your rates. If you have great credit, they assume you are more responsible and will offer you lower rates than those with less-than-stellar credit.

There are three major credit monitoring companies, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Companies report both your good and bad payment habits to these companies individually. It is your information, therefore, you can check it anytime you wish, but you are only allowed to see these reports once per year for no charge. It is important to make sure that the information is correct on these reports as they will affect you financially.

It is important to make sure that you check all three reports to make sure that your personal information is updated and that all the entries match up. If there are any discrepancies, it is your responsibility to alert the credit agencies so that they can investigate and correct any errors.

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