Credit Reports

Your credit report is one of the most important documents in your life. Every time you apply for credit, whether it be a loan, a utility hookup, a cell phone, a car loan or a new credit card, your credit report will be reviewed.

Your credit report contains information about your bank accounts, credit accounts, late payments, non-payments, bankruptcies, checking overdrafts, and credit situations. You will not be viewed as a good credit risk if you are not keeping up with your payments. You will either be denied credit or you will get credit, but at a high interest rate.

There are 3 major agencies which keep information on you and your credit. This information includes a whole range of details on many of the financial transactions that you make through your life. You may not be aware of it but much of your financial data is reported to these agencies by merchants, utilities, banks, mortgage lenders, and any other merchant who has a credit relationship with you.

This information can be accessed by anyone involved in a credit relationship with you. When you prepare to lease a car or sign a rental agreement for an apartment your credit report will be reviewed. Anytime you wish to enter into a relationship where you are obligated to pay over time, your credit report will be reviewed.

The credit reporting agencies also compute a credit score (often called a FICO score) based on the information contained in your credit report. Most merchants or loan officers look at your credit score to decide what kind of offer they can make to you. If you credit score is high, you will get your loan quickly and at a low interest rate. If you credit score is lower, additional reviews of your credit history may need to be made and you will have to pay a higher interest rate.

While the exact formula for computing your credit score is a secret, the following factors affect your score:

• Bill payment history 35% of your FICO score
• Debt relative to your credit limit 30% of your FICO score
• Length of credit history 15% of your FICO score
• Types of credit 10% of your FICO score
• New credit 10% of your FICO score

Because your credit history is so important, it's critical for you to learn if any of the information on your credit report is in error. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group investigated credit reports and found that 79% of them contain errors and a quarter of the reports contained errors serious enough for individual to be denied credit.

Federal laws entitles you to obtain copies of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies, once each year. To get your credit reports you can visit AnnualCreditReport.com or call their toll free number, 1-877-322-8228.

To help monitor your credit over the course of a year you may want to request a credit report from one agency now, then in 4 months request a report from another agency, and 4 months latter request your report from the third agency.

There are various services offered that will help you manage your credit and monitor your credit reports daily for potential fraudulent activity. Some services can also help you resolve errors on your credit report. If you are interested in more frequent reviews of your credit report, these services may be just what you are looking for.

We hope the following credit report resources will be valuable in your efforts.

Credit Report Ideas You Can Use

Credit Report News

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FACTA, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 requires the nationwide credit bureaus to provide you one free credit report per year. You can also see your credit score, but that will cost something. The Federal Trade Commission is seeking c

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