The Credit Report: What It Is And Where To Get It

Your credit report is the single most important piece of information about you financially speaking.  Today, you can’t just walk into a bank and stop and talk to your old friend the banker.  Unfortunately, the personal image of lending is far gone.  When you apply for a loan today, the first and most important impression that the potential lender has on you is your credit report.  This one document is filled with all of your history with credit.  Since it is so essential to your financial well being, it is also important that you know what it is, where to get it and what’s on it.

What Is A Credit Report?

Think of a credit report as a report card of all that you’ve done with credit for at least the last ten years.  But, one misconception about credit reports is that they grade you on your credit performance.  Unlike that report card you got back in school, a credit report only provides for what you’ve accomplished and how you’ve handled your credit during the time that it has been extended to you.  To learn how well you are doing, you will need to look at your credit score, or your FICO score.  This is the number that is based on the good and bad reports on your credit report.

There are three different credit reports that are commonly filed for each person.  These are provided by the three major credit reporting agencies.  Those are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.  Each provides lenders with a credit report on you.  When you approach a lender and request a line of credit, they go to the three credit agencies to find out what type of a risk you are to them.  Some even use these reports to send out offers for credit cards and loans, even before you’ve actually applied for them.

What’s On Your Credit Report

There is a great amount of information on your credit report.  First, there is information that identifies you.  This may be your full name, any other names you’ve used or have been referred to as well as the addresses of any places you’ve lived in the last ten years or so.  It also provides:

• The types of credit reports that you are using or have used.
• The length of time that you have held those accounts.
• The credit history or how well you’ve paid your debts.
• How much credit you have available to you.
• How much credit you are using.

In short, it will cover any information and details about the credit that you have and how well or not so well you use it.  That information will remain there while the account is open or for up to ten years after the account has been closed.  If you find something negative beyond that point, you can contact the issuing credit reporting agencies and ask them to remove it.

Where To Get Yours

Not only is it important for you to know what a credit report is and what it tells potential lenders, but you should also be able to see your credit report.  In the last year, laws have gone into effect which requires the credit reporting agencies to furnish a copy of your credit report to you, if you request it, without cost.  You are entitled to one free copy from each of the credit agencies per year.

You should pull your own credit report and look at it closely.  It is easy for mistakes to be made and someone else’s bad payment history or account may be hurting you.  When you pull your credit report, you’ll want to go through it with a fine tooth comb, looking for any potential problems, concerns or errors listed there.  You can also see where you may be able to improve your credit score by improving your credit.

You can obtain your free credit report by visiting the websites of the three reporting agencies:

TransUnion:  www.transunion.com
Equifax:  www.equifax.com
Experian:  www.experian.com