I consider this time of year to be a lull.  The busyness of summer has passed.  Kids are in school and normal routines are once again being followed.  It is also a calm before the hecticness of the holidays.  There are several tasks that I schedule for this time of year – One of them is to check my credit.

As small business owners our personal credit is often closely tied to our business.  This is just another reason why it is important to take advantage of the free Credit Reports that you can request once a year.

A Credit Report will include all the details on your credit accounts, both current and closed accounts.  When you get your report, you are checking to:

• make sure that everything is accurate.  Credit bureaus can often make mistakes and the sooner you catch them the better. 
• make sure that you do not have any outstanding balances you are unaware of.  Several years ago, my credit report revealed an account that still had an open balance that I thought I had closed.
• check for unauthorized activity.  Many times, you won’t realize that your identity has been stolen until your credit is pulled.

The best place to request your free reports is from www.AnnualCreditReport.com.  Be sure to request one from each of the three major credit-reporting agencies.