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Have You Ever Wondered What's on Your Credit Report?
So what is your credit report and why are we always talking about them? Remember when you were a kid and you received your report card complete with the grades and comments from the teacher? Well your credit report is basically a fiancial report card for adults. Remember when your parents took a look at your report card? If you earned good grades and good comments from your teachers, your parents said good job, put your report card on the refrigerator, and maybe even bought you a gift. If you earned bad grades or bad comments you got punished. My punishment was in the form of less time with friends and TV, I'm sure you remember yours. As an adult, your credit report is the equivalent of your financial report card and the banks, mortgage companies, car loan companies, and credit card companies are the equivalent of your parents. If you have a good credit report and good credit score these companies love you and give you easier access to money. If you have a bad credit report and bad credit score, they don't treat you very well. So What's a Good Credit Score?Credit scores range from 300-850. This means that if your score is 300 you get an "F". If you have a score of 850 you get an "A+". Most people fall in the range of 600-685, or "B". This number scale was created by FICO which stands for Fair Isaacs Company. The FICO score was created to give creditors a standardized method of evaluating people's ability to pay pack loans and the overall health of their payment history and debts. What's on a Credit Report?When you apply for a new apartment, car, mortgage, even job, your credit will be evaluated. Your banks, landlords,and car financing companies all want to know if you will pay them their money. If they are going to loan you money, they need to check your payment history to make sure you do what you say and make payments to people that make loans to you.
When they look at your credit not only will they see a credit score but they will also see much more... Personal Information
They will be able to see your name, social security number, your birthdate, at least 3 previous addresses, your employer, and previous employer. This gives them a background into who you are and whether you really have the job you say you do and live where you say you are living. Account History This is the meat of your credit report. This portion of the report lists all your different creditors, how much money you owe them, and whether you are late with your payments. It contains real estate loans, revolving accounts (like credit cards where the monthly balance changes each month), and installment accounts (like a car payment, where monthly payments are the same each month). There is a colored graph on each report under each creditor that states whether you are current with your payments, a little late, or a total deadbeat. Here's what they typically look like...
Public Information This section contains public information about legal matters affecting your credit. Here's a list of public records that may show up on your report.
Inquiries This section of your report is often underrated, but it can have a big impact on your report. If you are looking for new credit, getting a home loan, new car, new apartment, it's likely that someone will check your credit. Every time someone checks your credit it becomes an "inquiry" and goes on your credit report. This could bring your score down if you are constantly looking for new credit or loans. If that's the case, people will see this and potentially view you as a credit risk because you are not financially stable if you are always looking to borrow money. FYI, all your creditors, including your employer will periodically check your credit report to ensure financial stability, so do expect some inquiries to be on your report whether you authorized it or not. Creditor Contacts Your credit report may also include contact information for your creditors. In case of a question or discrepancy on your report, this provides easy access to their information if you need to contact them.
This is a summary of what people see when they view your credit report. If you have read some of my pages on
identity theft prevention I talk about why credit monitoring is not enough to prevent identity theft. Although
your credit report provides detailed infromation about you and your finances, this isn't enough to prevent identity
theft. If you havn't read my page on identity theft prevention, take time to look at it now.
Click here now to take a look at easy identity theft prevention tips
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