After you request credit company that you want to provide your credit report you'll be redirected to special site pages set up by each of three credit companies. Each will ask you a series of personal questions to validate your identity; name of your mortgage lender, amount of your monthly payment, amount of your auto loan, etc.

Each of three has a different look and feel:

~ Experian has a handy summary report that shows number of "potentially negative" items in your report and number of accounts in good standing.

~ Equifax shows an exhaustive list of accounts, what type they are, when they were opened, balance and credit limit, last payment and account status.

~ TransUnion uses a color-coded series of boxes to show which accounts are current and which are overdue.

All three show who else has been looking at your credit report, credit card companies seeking to approve you for a credit card offer, mortgage brokers, lenders trying to determine terms of a loan, or existing creditors reviewing your account.

You can choose to just look at information online or print complete report. Your credit report may be dozens of pages long to view or print.

All three offer links for disputing credit report information or reporting an error. You'll also get address and sometimes phone number for each individual creditor, handy if you need to follow up on an error.

You are also offered option of submitting a "personal statement" where you can explain your credit report in your own words. The statement remains on file for two years.

Your basic credit report is free but as you go about getting to your credit information, you'll have to contend with multiple offers for fee-based products and services. You do not have to buy any of them to get your free credit report. The credit companies have loaded their pages with offers for monthly credit-report alerts, credit rankings, home valuators or credit score.

Summery: Getting Your Credit Report

Free credit reports can be obtained once a year by telephone, by mail or online from official site operated by Central Source for Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

~ Online: www.annualcreditreport.com

~ Toll-free number: 877.322.8228

~ Mailing address: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

It will take up to 15 days to process phone and mail requests.

You do not have to pay anything to get your free credit report.

However, if you want to get a credit score or other extras, you may be charged a fee.

Additional reports can be obtained anytime directly from credit reporting companies at prices ranging from $9 for one report from one agency to $34.95 for a combined report from all three.

If you want to receive reports by mail, you must mail in a request form available on site of Federal Trade Commission: www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/docs/factactrequestform.pdf

For more information: Check out FTC's site: www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm

You can also make a complaint online at that site address.

Credit Report Tips

You don't have to order all three reports at once. Stagger your requests so you can view your credit over year; i.e.: order one report now, next report in three months and third report in about six months. Then next year you would be eligible for another free report from first credit company. This currently only applies to those in Western and Midwestern U.S. The rest of county will have to want until their regional roll-out.

If you are planning a major purchase, you may want to get all three reports at once to make sure there isn't any information that might affect your credit.

Read report to make sure everything is accurate. Each agency has an address or number you can call to report errors. If you are disputing an item listed, credit agency is required to investigate. Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. For more information on credit-report disputes, go online to Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/credit.

If you have any technical problems, you get kicked off site, you never get a report requested by phone or mail, or you only get one of three reports you request -- write to joint mailing address, Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281, and explain problem.

If you have been victim of identity theft, you are eligible to get a free credit report from all agencies even if you've already received your free annual report under program.

If you have complaints about program, contact FTC online at www.ftc.gov/credit then click on "File a Complaint." or you can write to FTC Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room 130, Washington, D.C. 20580. You can also send a written complaint to official credit-report site at Atlanta address listed above.

Copyright Steven Presar

Product Prospects and Revenue Track Record

If start-up is in development stage and has yet to sell products, venture lessors generally look for products capable of establishing a strong market position. If start-up’s product is already in distribution, lessors look for strong monthly or quarterly revenue growth. A poor reception of product in early stages, when measured against business plan, can often signal a faulty product launch or faulty product concept.

Valuation History

A valuation history records share prices of stock sold to investors by start-up. Unless there is a good explanation, most lessors look for significant share price appreciation over successive offering rounds. The assumption is that start-up is making steady and significant progress in its development, which will be reflected in rising share values.

Balance Sheet Strength

Venture lessors usually evaluate a start-up’s working capital to ensure that start-up can make payments when due. Along with an analysis of start-up’s burn rate, lessors use traditional working capital measures like current and quick ratios. Lessors also look for other signs of balance sheet strength, such as: low to moderate leverage; positive tangible net worth (inclusive of subordinated debt); and minimum paid-in capital of $7 - $10 million.

Outside Professional Involvement

Most venture lessors view involvement of reputable and successful outside board members as a positive factor for start-ups. A reputable CPA firm, law firm, institutional partners and/or service providers are also viewed by lessors as positive. These professionals can bring valuable expertise and contacts that can help new venture to succeed. Payment Performance

As with more traditional lessees, venture-leasing companies frown upon poor lessee payment histories. Most venture lessors expect lessees to have satisfactory payment histories, unless good explanations can be offered. As expected by other vendors, satisfactory payment of bills by customers is where rubber meets road. Whether lessee is a start-up or a Fortune 500 company, most lessors view prompt payment as sacrosanct.

While venture lessors use additional factors to make their credit decisions, these ten factors seem to be used universally. Though most of these factors are subjective, they have stood test of time for venture lessors in making informed and reasonable credit decisions.