If you find errors or inaccuracies in your credit history file, you will have to submit a dispute letter or request to each of the credit bureaus on which the mistake appears. In some cases you may be able to dispute the error with online forms, but in some cases you’ll have to submit a letter with your corroborating documents.

There are a lot of free credit score offerings out there, and many can be useful, but there are a few things consumers need to know when looking up their credit scores. Some scores are educational — meaning creditors do not use free credit score formulas for making lending decisions — but they can still inform you whether you have good or bad credit.

7.7% of Americans don’t have a bank account, but not everyone is checking-less by choice. If your ChexSystems score affects your ability to open a regular checking account, you still have a chance to put yourself on the road to financial security with a 2nd chance checking account. A second chance checking account is like a checking account for bad credit.

The federal government gives us the right to a free credit report once a year. However, there’s no government mandate for annual free FICO Scores — the credit score lenders most often use to approve credit applications. You may be able to receive a free FICO Score by signing up for another subscription service, but that isn’t always a good option.

Having a low credit score can hurt you in a number of different ways. Here are some of the disadvantages of having a low credit score.