Sheri here –
Your credit report can impact your personal and business existence.
Maybe one of your goals was getting a business loan. An important element in getting a business loan is your personal credit rating.
Why? Because if your business doesn’t have a credit track record yet then it must rely upon your personal credit rating to secure a loan for your business.
This is a loan to your business, not to you and shouldn’t affect your credit, provided you have an established business entity. But before you sign the paperwork, check with your lender and accountant.
What does your credit rating look like?
Maybe you’ve had some frustrating encounters or disappointing situations when you were trying to buy something. Maybe it was an appliance, or a car or a house and you were told that your credit wasn’t approved, or the interest rate on your purchase was higher than expected or you needed to put more money down.
Maybe you wanted to get a business loan, but your personal credit rating didn’t support it.
Ok, you knew you had an issue; but didn’t think it was THAT bad, that it would affect you like that. You were mystified as to why.
You might have some questions at this point:
– Where did they get your credit information from?
– How can you get your hands on it to see the details for yourself?
– How do you fix it, if there are issues?
– Why does my personal credit rating matter for a business loan?
Where does the information come from?
Your credit rating is based on information that the credit bureaus (credit reporting agencies) collect about you. They collect information on all consumers and report it individually in your credit report. There are three major credit bureaus or agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
The information that the credit agencies collect is used to prepare your credit score, your credit rating.
How can you see the details for yourself?
The good news is that you can get a free copy of your credit information once a year from each of the three credit bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com.
You may want to review your information more often than once a year. You have several alternatives: 1) pay a service to that or 2 ) once every four months, order one of your three free reports, rotating the credit bureau you request it from. That way you get a look see three times a year for free.
When was the last time you checked your credit report?
While the credit report doesn’t include your credit score, at least not for free, there are ways to get it. Some credit cards will include the reporting of your credit score as one of the credit card’s benefits.
How do you fix any errors?
It is a good practice to check periodically to determine if there are any errors, then you can get it corrected before it affects a personal buying decision.
Check each of the credit bureaus websites, for the information on how you can correct errors that you identified.
If you found errors on one, then you may want to double check the others to assure that you are correcting everything.
Why is this important?
Your credit rating influences not only getting credit, but the price you pay for credit, whether you are buying a house, a car, an appliance or even the interest rate on your current credit cards.
Your rating could even make the difference in getting the apartment you are looking to rent or landing that great job you are interviewing for.
Women today, as compared to just a few decades ago, have the privilege of establishing credit in their own name, even if they are married and not currently working outside the home.
That is a great privilege because it gives you more power to leverage your earnings and your buying power.
With the privilege of having credit comes the responsibility to prudently use it and to protect the accuracy of your credit information.
An excellent credit rating is something to honor and to protect.
Ciao,
Sheri
P.S. Drop a comment below and let me know what your money goals are and how I can help!
