The Rural Voice, 2003-10, Page 66BRUCE
Email: bruce@ofa.on.ca
website: www.ofa.on.ca/bruce
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Farmers by the BCFA.
Make sure your credit information is accurate
Recentl% we had a curious situation
happen to us on our farm and 1 thought it
interesting enough that 1 would share it
with you.
In the course of doing some financial
shuffling between institutions. one of our
local institutions called to inform us that
they would be doing a credit check. To
our surprise. the result of the credit check
turned up transactions that we were
totally unaware of. Since the bank was
insistent that these transactions were ours.
we were left to source out the information
ourselves.
It turned out that the bank had
inadvertently checked another report of a
person with a similar name, which we
were able to prove by checking the credit
inquiries list at the bottom of each report.
It was news to us when we were first told
that we are responsible for making sure
that our credit report is correct and that
we should be checking it at least once a
year. It was not a surprise to us to find
out that many Canadians have never
looked at their own credit report and that
it is often overlooked when we assess our
financial situation.
A credit report is a history of how
consistently you pay your financial
obligations and is created when you first
borrow money or apply for credit. On a
regular basis companies that lend money
or issue credit cards to you send the credit
reporting agencies specific and factual
information about their financial
relationship with you, such as when the
account was opened, if you make
payments on time, missed a payment or
went over your credit limit.
Your credit report is a history that will
help them determine what kind of lending
risk you are and if you are likely to repay
your obligation on time or not. It is very
important to have your full name
including middle initial used on your
credit report and also S.I.N. number is the
best way to avoid mix up with other
peoples' credit reports. In order to check
your credit report you can go online to
www.equifax.ca and you can select
"Consumer Information Centre". If you
would like an immediate report click on
FALL BUS TOUR
Bus tour of beef, sheep, and windmill farms
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2003
Bus departs Paisley Legion - 12:30 p.m.
Reception Paisley Legion Hall - 5:00 p.m.
Please contact BCFA office for more information
62 THE RURAL VOICE
ww.econsumer.equifax.ca
At http://www.econsumer.equifax.ca for
a fee of $14.50 paid by credit card. or you
can get a free copy of your credit report
by mail. The mailing address is Equifax
Canada. CP 190, Station Jean Talon,
Montreal. Quebec, HIS 2Z2, and mark it
Attn: Consumer Relations. In order to
receive a report by mail you must include
a photocopy of a utility bill or something
that indicates your address and a
photocopy of two pieces of identification
and ask for a copy of your credit report. If
you choose to purchase your report over
the internes you are allowed to check your
report for free for 30 days. just make sure
that you click on the highlighted date on
the left hand side under "My Score
Power" because if you hit the "Go" icon
it will ask you to resubmit your credit
card number.
With your credit report you can see
the report lenders use most to qualify you
for credit. and plan for major purchases -
car. home, education and find out who
has accessed your credit report. You may
be surprised if you are a farm partner to
find out that you may not have much of a
credit rating at all, even though you have
spent years faithfully paying bills. It
seems depending on the way the
information is recorded and whose name
appears first on the transaction that the
other partner is not given credit on his/her
credit report.
The credit information section will
report each account that you have opened
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture
PLEASE NOTE:
There will be(l Q Board of Directors' meeting
In October due to the annual meeting. Next
meeting will be Monday, November 17, 2003.
AESI project nears
completion
The AESI Bruce Water Quality Project is tour
months from completion, and despite the huge
impact of the border closure, Bruce County farmers
have taken the initiative to reduce pathogen entry to
our area waterways.
We have partnered with over 20 farmers in the
Otter Creek, Pearl and Deer Creek and Teeswater
watershed. AESI has provided 50 per cent of the
costs for items such as eavestroughs on barns,
fencing livestock from streams, and providing a
water pipeline to troughs for pastured livestock.
Fall is an excellent time to get some of these
types 01 projects done, and we are still accepting
applications for funding. Work must be completed by
the end of 2003. If you live in these watersheds and
would like further information please contact Kathy
Velocci at 353-4471 for full program details.0
in the past. Past accounts are retained for
six years past the date of the last activity.
There is a confirmation number given at
the end of the report that should be kept
for future reference. If you need to launch
an investigation into your credit report
you need to complete a "Consumer Credit
Report Update Form". You can telephone
Equifax at 1-800-465-7166 between 8:00
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and I found them very
helpful or you can send an email request
to consumer.relations@equifax.com
Equifax also indicated to me that it is
advisable to check with Trans Union
Credit Report as it may have some
different reports. Equifax and Trans
Union are the two agencies that are
nationally recognized as leaders in
consumer and commercial financial
management. Trans Union phone number
is 1-800-663-9980 and the website is
www.tuc.ca Your credit report is
important and I hope you enjoy checking
it out.0
— Submitted by Javne Dietrich
BCFA Past President
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture
62ND ANNUAL MEETING
AND BANQUET AND OFA
REGIONAL MEETING
Friday, October 24, 2003
Royal Canadian Legion, Kincardine
Social: 6:30 p.m. Dinner 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15/person
Guest Speaker: Gordon Hill, Varna
Note: 1. OFA Regional Directors, Delegates and
Altemates for OFA Convention, BCFA Presidents and
Township Directors will be elected at the meeting.
2. Changes to our Constitution and By -Laws will be
presented at the Annual Meeting.
Workshop set for EFP
Plan to complete your Environmental Farm Plan
this fall. Workshops consist of one day from 10:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and a follow-up day from 9:00 a.m.
to noon.
Environmental Farm Plan Co-ordinator Jayne
Dietrich and an OMAF technical support
representative will provide training and support to
help you access and document your farming
operation. Completion of an approved Environmental
Farm Plan will enable you to apply for $1.500 on the
completion of an identified project. Farm partners
are encouraged to attend together where possible.
Please bring a bag lunch, coffee and snacks are
provided.
Workshop dates are as follows:
Friday, September 26 and October 3
Tuesday, October 14 and 21
Wednesday, November 12 and 19
Please contact Jayne Dietnch at dietrich@bmts.com
or call 519-367-5930 for registration and location.0