WEB SIGHTINGS ***** # 71026.

ROLCAM · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 9:56 am Post subject: WEB SIGHTINGS ***** # 71026.

Web Sightings .

Give Yourself Some Credit

Federal law says that you are entitled to a free credit report every year from each of the three major credit reporting services - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The good news is that these free credit reports can be delivered to you via the Internet. The bad news is that every Web site on the Internet that has "free credit report" in its name doesn't deliver a free credit report.

When you want a free credit report, there's only one Web site you should remember: http://www.annualcreditreport.com.

The free reports give you all the information in your credit file that is maintained by the consumer reporting companies. They are the same reports that third parties such as lenders look at before granting you credit. They basically disclose your credit standing and include inquiries of companies for pre-approved offers of credit or insurance as well as account reviews among other things.

It's important you know this information, especially because sometimes the information is incorrect and can damage your credit rating. In that case, you have the option of clearing your file of wrong information through an appeal process.

Since you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three major credit agencies ever 12 months, you can get a free credit report every four months if you space your requests correctly.

However, remember that you can only be assured of free credit reports via the Internet by going to http://www.annualcreditreport.com. If you go to the Google search engine and type in "free credit report," you'll see scores of sites listed. Most of these do not offer credit reports free of charge. What most of them are seeking is for you to subscribe to a surcharged credit reporting service that could cost more than $100 a year. If you subscribe to that service, you will get a "free credit report," that really isn't free at all.

When you request a free credit report from the legitimately free Web site, you are asked to supply information such as your name, address, birth date, Social Security number, and so on. The site states that this information is encrypted, which means that there is little danger that the information can be stolen.

If you are leery of entering that information on a Web site, you can request free credit reports by mail or by phone: Equifax, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374, 877-576-5734; Experian, P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013, 888-397-3742; Transunion, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834, 800-680-7269

The report you get via the Internet is almost instantaneous. If you request a report via phone or mail, it will take longer. But either way, getting these reports can save you lots of trouble when you apply for credit and the time and effort you expend could be worth it.

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Kaboom is a nonprofit agency with a vision. It wants to see places for kids to play within walking distance of every child in America. And to make that happen, the group has established a Web site at http://www.kaboom.org, where you can find not only information about existing playgrounds, but instructions on how to raise money for a playground in your community.

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MusicMoz at http://musicmoz.org is a search engine created by humans rather than a machine. Volunteers scour the Internet looking for Web sites and submit them to MusicMoz, along with reviews and other music information. The creators of the Web site continue to look for volunteers who will maintain a category in what is called an "Open Music Project."

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Wacky Web Tales at http://www.eduplace.com/tales is a Web site geared for grades 3 and above. It let's young people compose stories by blindly supplying adjectives, nouns and other parts of speech. Sound like the old game of MadLibs? Well, that's exactly what it is, and in the process, the kids playing the game learn more about the parts of speech.

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Roland Camilleri

Moderator

Sydney , Australia.