Credit 101: Journey to Financial Literacy Day 2

Hey GaBbers & friends,
My summer break has ended and finally, Credit 101 is back in session. Yesterday, while preparing my data and research for this course; credit 101, my mind seemed to revisit the many expenses I have accumulated over my past four years of credit history. From the Gap and Express department store cards of my 18yrs birthday; $200 credit limits I thought I would"never have to repay." To the library books I checked out, never returned, never read, but cost me about $500 and a falling credit score...At 20yrs old, I lucidly remember the Capital One card that I never applied for that made its way into my mailbox without permission. Then, of course, I had a season finale episode entitled "shoulda, woulda, coulda's: what I wish I'd known about credit before exploited by ignorance. Abruptly interrupting the pity party, my friend called and asked if I had registered for summer session two at my fair Morgan State.

Suddenly, I realized just how pricey my undergraduate education has become. And, after all the money I have invested into my matriculation at Morgan, one would assume that I would have experienced at least one course in financial literacy before graduation. Is financial literacy only for business majors? Graduation requirements at institutions of higher learning would suggest so, but I beg to differ. In a capitalistic society, an individuals credit is one of their single most important strains of financial DNA and credit reports are likened to the physical structures that DNA forms. For example, lenders and employers never meet the people that apply for loans and even employment in some cases, and yet they can picture the person they've denied based on the vivid Credit report description.(I don't believe that you can see the charcter or moral of a person through a score of any type but it happens everyday) However, there are no orientation, or real life exit exams etc to teach what should be common knowledge to an educated person. After all the general education a bachelors of science degree supposedly provides, not once have I ever had a class on reading credit report templates. So... blindly I sit, wanting my tuition money back, as I look down at my Equifax credit report summary from www.annualcreditreport.com. This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure; credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and Trans union. Now I could repeat all the preliminary information that my Tag-team partner Gwen has already mentioned, but instead I'll just provide the link for my personal credit so we can all share the same looking glass. Meanwhile, lets look at a few vocabulary words for homework, we will discuss each sub-topic with a twist!!!


FICO: Fair Isaac Corporation ( Who knows what the O stands for)
Credit Summary
Accounts
Inquiries
Negative Information
Personal Information
Dispute File Information
Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA
Remedying the Effects of Identity Theft
Your Rights Under State Law
Credit Score

P.S. If you decide to access your own credit report Do Not Use www.Freecreditreport.com!!! It is a scam for surveys etc.. Also, the www.annualcreditreport.com will only allow you to review your equifax report without credit card information. If you decide to review Trans Union or Experian reports be ready.