Monday, August 07, 2006
Free Credit Report
(I've blogged about this before, but I think it's worth repeating.)
Did you know that you can request a free credit report in Canada from both TransUnion and Equifax Canada? These two companies probably know more about your credit history than you do - and it's a good idea to know what it is that they know about you. These are the first people that every bank, retailer, and credit card company go to when you fill out a form authorizing them to do a credit check.
When you first go to their sites, it looks like they will charge you to give you your info - of course they can't do that, it's your info after all. What they actually charge you for is appeasing your impatience - the convenience of an online report runs anywhere from $15.50 to $23.95 (Canadian funds of course, but that doesn't really matter these days now does it?) However...if you take a moment to read the fine print you'll find a section somewhere on the site that mentions getting a free report if you're willing to wait for Canada Post to do it's thing. For the cost of printing their pdf form (my links above should get you there - or close to there, anyway), a photocopy of some ID, and a $0.51 stamp, you'll get a fairly up to date snapshot of whatever it is they've got on you. Whether it's to make sure their info is accurate before applying for your mortgage, or making sure that someone's not misbehaving with your identification - I'd encourage you to check it out.
Did you know that you can request a free credit report in Canada from both TransUnion and Equifax Canada? These two companies probably know more about your credit history than you do - and it's a good idea to know what it is that they know about you. These are the first people that every bank, retailer, and credit card company go to when you fill out a form authorizing them to do a credit check.
When you first go to their sites, it looks like they will charge you to give you your info - of course they can't do that, it's your info after all. What they actually charge you for is appeasing your impatience - the convenience of an online report runs anywhere from $15.50 to $23.95 (Canadian funds of course, but that doesn't really matter these days now does it?) However...if you take a moment to read the fine print you'll find a section somewhere on the site that mentions getting a free report if you're willing to wait for Canada Post to do it's thing. For the cost of printing their pdf form (my links above should get you there - or close to there, anyway), a photocopy of some ID, and a $0.51 stamp, you'll get a fairly up to date snapshot of whatever it is they've got on you. Whether it's to make sure their info is accurate before applying for your mortgage, or making sure that someone's not misbehaving with your identification - I'd encourage you to check it out.
# posted by Anonymous : 10:55 PM
