Credit Report-how To Dissect Your Report

What does this little credit report say about you? Your credit report is a report card of how well you pay your bills and a history of who you are. It also tells when and how many times in the past you have applied for credit. It may not show all of your credit accounts, as not all companies report to the credit agencies, and depending on which report you get it may have some info that others don't. This is because creditors can pick and choose which of the three agencies they report to or if they report at all. Here we will break down what to expect when you read your report.

The first section is your identifying information. This is a rather self explanatory area. It contains your name, address, phone number and tax id number. It may also include other vital statistics such as previous addresses and previous employers.

Your credit history is the meat of your report. It includes the full breakdown of your debt. What you owe and who you owe it to. It can include any late payments made by you ( payments made more the 30 days late), your outstanding debt ( from how much you owe to how much you payments are) and the total amount of credit currently available to you. These items appear for all of your accounts, including your bank accounts, credit cards and mortgages. This section sticks to you for 7 years.

The next section is the public records area. Hopefully this area is empty. Either way, this area would include any filings of bankruptcy of court judgments. This could include things like property taxes not being paid ( a lien). This section is also valid for 7 years after placed on report except in the case of bankruptcy which stays on your report for 10 years.

The last section is for inquiries made into your credit. Whenever a creditor ( or yourself) checks your credit it shows up in your report as an inquiry. There are two forms of these, hard and soft. Soft inquiries do not stay on your report, they are simply times when you have looked into your own credit. Hard inquiries come mostly from creditors. They look into your report to see what type of risk you pose. If your credit is good enough to get you the loan then the hard inquiry will not impact your credit. If you apply for multiple credit lines all at once, however, it may raise a red flag and show perspective lenders you may be trying to take the money and run.

It is important to get the entire picture when you are looking into your credit report. The best approach to this is to check your report with all three agencies. As said before, these reports may vary so you want to insure that no matter what agency the creditor checks with you have the best possible chance of being approved on your accurate, up to date information.

By: Sylvia Rolfe

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You can rebuild your credit once you understand it. Come check out more tips on Debt Aid and Credit Repair.

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