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moneysense.ca, 21/09/06
Order Your Credit Reports
It is a good practice to order your credit report every year. You never know what errors lurk in them. The first time I ordered my credit report, I found that my bank still had a lien on my car though the car loan was long paid off.
The two major credit bureaus in Canada (Equifax and TransUnion) will send a copy of your credit report for free if a request is made by mail. The application forms (available here and here) should be accompanied by two pieces of identification and are usually processed in 5 to 10 days.
moneysense.ca, 21/09/06
You can also order it online for about $20.
Does anyone know if having bank account information (appears to be empty for me) would affect the score?
Also, wouldn’t it make sense to include a person’s income to determine credit risk? I didn’t see that anywhere.
Credit report and credit score are two items that really annoy me. You are only considered a good credit risk if you have a long history of getting yourself way over your head in debt and then working three jobs to pay it off. The ability to repay a loan is not a factor at all. A great example of this was a few years ago just coming out of university when I tried to open a line of credit. I had a good paying job right out of school and no debt so I had, what I thought anyway, was a VERY low level of risk to the lender. Apparently not, since I had only ever had one credit card and a small student loan the bank was unwilling to open a line of credit for me. They did however tell me that they would lend me an enormous amount of money for a mortgage if I wanted it. The monthly payment would have been almost 40% of my gross income at the time!! But they wouldn’t let me have an unsecured line of credit for $10k where even maxed out the monthly payment would have been around 4% of my gross. No consideration for ability to repay at all. I was stunned, still am.
Lesson…if you want a good credit score go out and max out those credit cards and get a car you can’t afford, the lenders will be lining up to give you more.
Please don’t actually do that!!
James
MV, I’ve considered the same question. What is more, I can’t understand why they don’t display my mortgage liability? Is that not the gold standard as to whether or not I pay what I owe in a timely and consistent manner?
[...] Canadian Capitalist » Order Your Credit Reports. quick tip on how to get a free credit report in canada. [...]
Credit report and score are both dependant on a complex calculation involving the total outstanding debt, total possible outstanding(say you have a 15k LOC and you have taken 5K out – 5K is outstanding debt, 15k is possible outstanding), how long you have had the debt(s) and how consistantly you pay. The highest credit scores generally go to people who are heavily in debt, but have rarely if ever missed a payment but usually only make minimum payments, lenders LOVE minimum payers.
Your credit score actually goes down when you pay off debts, particularly old debts as the length of time you have been in debt is a key part of the calculation and as you pay off older debts the average age of your debts decreases, lenders LOVE long drawn out payment schedules as interest just keeps growing
[...] Canadian Capitalist posted this post: It is a good practice to order your credit report every year. You never know what errors lurk in them. The first time I ordered my credit report, I found that my bank still had a lien on my car though the car loan was long paid off. [...]
I’m even more confused now than when I started.
All I have is one credit card, with a limit of 12K. I typically put about 1K a month on it, but pay off the max every month, with a few execeptions.
I have no student debt and never have. I’d like to get a mortgage in the next five years.
Why am I screwed over? Because I pay off my credit card bill?
That hardly seems fair.
growth in value,
I had ran into a similar situation a couple years back, and was equally as shocked and confused when i was denied.
Your 12k CC + 10k line of credit + (whatever futureshop, ikea, etc cards you may have) == potential debt. Granted you may only owe your CC company $15 bucks – its the potential risk that you may rack up the full 12k on a crazy drinking binge in mexico next winter – thats where the worry comes from.
If you don’t need the full 12k (mine was at 21k, and i dont purchase anything but beer. I refuse to carry a debt & i make regular sizable payments twice a month) .. i knocked the CC limit down to 5k, and i was instantly able to receive my requested line of credit. (coupled with cancelling my futureshop card, ikea, pier 1, bay card, and a handfull of other potential debt cards).
StatiK76
I would have to totally agree with James, the more debts you have the more you will get. For example, i was not working, single mother of 2. I needed a small loan that i knew i could pay off, HSBC(bull crap company that can stick their 28.8% interest where the sun dont shine) opened up a LOC in the amount of 3000$, i took it. EH, i asked for 1000 i got 3000 what a deal i though i was getting, very very low payments. Then came in the calls from the annpying call centers and the cards, they gave me a The Source card, then audiotronics, im not talking about 1000 limit… nah more like 3000 each, then one day in the mail to my surprise…. 1500$ more on my LOC…in a cheque format, not a notification on my installment but money money, i mean a real cheque. I never even asked for it, dominican republic was nice though. well now i cant make the payments. Trust me the lenders were calling me to get a card not me running after them for 1. I learned a lesson, never accept money in the mail lol… its all a scam… i kindly asked to consolidate my 3 LOC to have at least only 1 28.8% interest and combine everything… you would think they would do that… no they enjoy making enormous amount of money on the interests…. well i guess im the one laughing at them now… i guess they should of figured out first that the more you allow a person to spend specially a woman the more they will spend… doesnt mean that they will or they can pay the debts off… well i guess im the one laughing now cause i dont have to put up with them anymore… i have a few words for other companies out there too but i will keep that to myself… i know it was partialy my fault for spending but lets face it, they knew i was not working why would they allow me to have approx. 10 000$ in LOC with their company, go figure.
I would like a free credit report sent to my e-mail address
thanks,
Michael
[...] Order your credit reports once every year. [...]
I hope this article helps your clients who need to quickly raise their credit scores for the loan approval process or for the best possible interest rates.
How Credit Expert Frank Bruno Raised His Credit Score 40 Points in 24hrs.
Also your clients may be interested in watching Free Credit Tip Videos here