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The average identity theft case takes 26 hours to resolve, but you may be dealing with the effects of identity theft for several years. If someone has used your social security number or other personal information to create a synthetic or false identity, chances are they have used your personal information to create multiple identities. A sophisticated identity thief may have created a very messy situation that could take you a very long time to unravel. Watch this Expert Real Estate Tips video and others on Identity Theft to learn how to protect yourself and your personal information.

If you're checking your credit report regularly, you should be looking for more than your credit score. You should also check for mistakes on your credit report and make sure all the information is accurate. If you find a mistake on your credit report, you will want to file a dispute with the three credit reporting bureaus. By law, the credit reporting bureaus are required to address your dispute within 30 days. Sometimes the credit reporting agency can come to a quick resolution, but other times, it may take longer to come to an agreement with the lender. Either way, watch your credit report very carefully for any false information and file a dispute immediately.

Do you know what kind of credit mistakes are lowering your credit score? Common mistakes may be dragging down your credit score and you may not even know what you're doing. Keep your credit card balance below 50 percent of your available credit. If you max out your credit cards every month you may be lowering your score. You can also get into more trouble if you run into late payments on your credit cards. Watch this Expert Real Estate Tips video for more common credit mistakes that could be lowering your credit score.

Your credit score is determined by looking at a combination of information from credit cards, available credit, payment history, and other financial information. Negative information like bankruptcies and liens can drastically lower your credit score, but the information won't stay there forever. After a certain number of years bankruptcies and liens will stop affecting your credit score. Late payments and the amount of available credit can also strongly affect your credit score.

Credit scores, on the scale assigned by FICO, range from 300 to 850. Who has an 850 credit score and what canyou do to get one? Less than 1 percent of the population has a credit score above 800, so it's very unlikely you will have an 850 credit score. However, if your credit score is above 720, you will probably still receive the best rates. Watch more credit and identity theft videos from Expert Real Estate Tips to learn how to raise your credit score.

Which credit cards should you cancel to have the least negative impact on your credit score? Canceling old credit cards that you don't use anymore shouldn't have too much of an effect on your credit score as long as the remaining cards are kept to a balance below 50% of your available credit. Your credit score will be higher if you are using and repaying credit, rather than just holding onto some old credit cards.

Do you need a credit monitoring service? You can pull your credit report once a year for free from each of the three credit reporting bureaus from AnnualCreditReport.com, but you might want to monitor your credit more frequently. If you feel that you are at risk for identity theft, your personal information has been compromised, or you just want to keep an eye on your credit score, you might want to use a credit monitoring service. With a credit monitoring service you should be able to see your credit report and credit score, be notified when any changes occur, and depending on the service, freeze and unfreeze your credit file.

Ever wonder what magical formula credit reporting bureaus use to figure out your credit score? It's not random, certain accounts are on your credit file and other accounts aren't. Things like utility payments and gambling debts aren't on your credit history, but anything from a financial institution or court system will be on your credit file. Watch this video from Expert Real Estate Tips for more insight into what's on your credit report and how your credit score is calculated.

A proactive way to prevent identity theft is to freeze your credit file with the three credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Freezing your credit file means no one can open a new account. It does not close your exisitng lines of credit, but it means that no one can open a new credit account or line of credit. If you're young and trying to open lines of credit to establish your credit history you probably don't want to freeze your credit file. However, seniors who don't need to open more lines of credit and maybe have paid off their mortgage can consider freezing their credit to prevent possible identity theft. Also, consider freezing your credit if you think your personal information was compromised and you're at risk for identity theft.

Do you know what is on your credit report? One of the first signs of identity theft is false information or mistakes on your credit report. Get a free copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com from each of the three credit reporting bureaus once a year. Check your credit report for accuracy, and look for suspicious information that can suggest identity theft. Consider using a credit monitoring service to protect yourself against identity theft. This will help keep an eye on your credit history all the time, rather than only once a year by pulling your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com.