What is in your credit report?
There are so many people that do not even know what their own credit report looks like because they have never even read their own credit report. If they look their credit report, they may or may not understand what it is that they are even looking at. They do not understand what it is that they are looking at; or if they do know what they are looking at, they do not know how to read their credit report to know for certain where they stand as far as their credit goes. The things that you really need to know about will be talked about here.
Personal Information: This is where you will find things like your full legal name also any aliases (Maiden or Married Names) that you are known by, your birth date, your Social Security/Insurance Number (SS/SI#), your current and 2 previous residential addresses and you current employer and the 2 prior employers.
Credit Information: Here is where you will find the pertinent information detailing what types of credit accounts that you currently have open and what specific types of credit each one is.
Bank Account Information: Here is where you (and creditors) need to look to see what types of bank account(s) you currently have open and whether you are good managing your money or not. The backs will report overdrafts on checking and savings accounts and all instances that a check is dishonored due to Insufficient Funds (NSF in banking terms). You are better off if there are no negative things here.
Public Records: This is the section that details any and all legal judgments that are filed against you (as in lawsuit awards) and bankruptcies that you file for (all pertinent information about when they were filed and resolved is included). No bankruptcies or judgments against you is a good thing here.
Collections Account Information: Here is where you and creditors look to see how many (if any) times you have had any credit account sent to a collection agency due to non-payment. Having no accounts in default is best here.
Consumer Statement: IF you have filed for bankruptcy or had a judgment against you, this is the section where your written explanation will be (i.e. bankruptcy due to a divorce or other financial situation). This gives you a chance to explain the worst items in writing.
Credit Report Inquiries: What this simply lists is the people (yourself included), creditors and agencies who have requested a copy of your credit report within a certain time period. This is a good way to know who has been looking at your credit report and for what reason.
These are the basics as far as what information your credit report has; yet this is not everything. There are also credit ratings which indicate how you pay your debts. The letters I (Installment Loan), O (Open Credit like a student loan) and R (Revolving-Credit Card) are accompanied by a number from 1 to 9. 1’s mean timely payments while 9’s means never paid.
