What is in a Credit Report?
Your credit report is an education for you in your financial history. It is the basis of any decision a lender might make regarding giving or refusing credit to you. It is a smart move to arrange to see your credit report.
We can obtain copies of our credit report for free, on an annual basis, from the three major credit reporting agencies: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Go to annualcreditreport.com to obtain these copies. Please request reports from all 3 agencies because they may differ.
There will be several sections in each of the reports. The first section will include basic information such as name, social security number and other identifying factors. No information about race, salary, or assets will be in the reports.
Any of your credit lines will be included. Such items will include loans, mortgages, credit cards, department store and gas cards. This section will show when the account was opened, credit limits, monthly payments, payment history ( late payments also), unpaid child support and overdrawn bank accounts.
Credit reporting agencies also receive information from the court system. This section will have a listing of bankruptcies, liens, judgments, divorce.
Any time that you fill out a credit application ( credit card, loan ) there will be a credit inquiry to one of the bureaus. If you inquire for yourself, it will be on the report. These inquiries will remain for 2 years.
If the information on your credit report is positive, this is to your benefit. If the report has negatives, this information will remain for 7 years. A bankruptcy remains for 10 years.
Request those credit reports from all 3 agencies. Compare the reports, be aware of discrepancies and fix errors. We have a personal responsibility to monitor our own credit profile, fix mistakes and, if needed, repair our credit.
With unprecedented challenges in the credit markets its more important than ever to have excellent credit. For more information check out Rob Kosbergs’ Detailed no cost Report on Maintaining and Repairing your Credit Score by going to Credit Score Repair for your no cost information. You may also visit Increase Credit Score for a Report on Raising your Credit Score.