What are the components of a credit report?
There are many different parts to a credit report that you might not understand. The problem come in when you really do not understand what you are looking at or how to properly and accurately read a credit report if you do understand what you are looking at. This is why we will be discussing these things as an expansion to an earlier article and discussion about what information is in your credit report.
The first pieces of information that you will see on your credit report are your current legal name and any aliases that you are known by. Aliases would include your Maiden Name if you are a married woman or your Married Name if you only go by your Maiden Name or your Legal Birth Name if you were adopted. These are easy enough to understand. You will also see a listing of your current residential address and the two addresses you lived at prior to your current one. Your Social Security (or Insurance) Number will also be there.
You can also find information about your currently open and past credit accounts. This information tells you and creditors how well you have been paying your loans and how frequently (if at all) you are late in making your payments. If you have ever had a bank account of any kind, this will be there as well. Checks returned due to Insufficient Funds (not enough there to cover the check) and accounts that have been closed (along with the reason) will also appear on your credit report. There is no possible way to hide a “bounced” check/cheque from creditors; this will be on your credit report.
Something else that you also see on your credit report is any and all legal actions (lawsuits) filed against you in which you have been ordered to pay damages to another person/party. Any bankruptcy you have ever filed for any reason and when this was done (as well as when the bankruptcy was discharged) will also be there for creditors to see. You also need to be aware that any accounts that have been sent to a collection agency because of non-payment of the amount owed will also be reported on your credit report. You will also find that information pertaining to the debt being paid or charged off will also appear there too.
If you have written any personal explanation statements in regards to lawsuits filed against you or any bankruptcy these will be displayed in the Consumer Statement portion of your credit report. If you put a Fraud Alert on your credit report for any suspicious activity, this will also be shown very plainly in this section. The last thing that you will see in the main section shows and tell you how many people (including yourself), creditors and companies have been viewing your credit report and the reason for these requests. You will want to keep a very close eye on this section as well. Too many inquiries in a short time is never good.
