What is on Your Credit Report?
Your credit report is a very important piece of the puzzle in your financial picture. It contains a historical record of your personal and financial information including a listing of your current and past debts and the timeliness of your payments. The information contained on your credit report is looked at by many people including lenders, credit card companies, landlords, telephone and cable companies just to name a few. These companies use your credit report to evaluate your reliability and creditworthiness.
With all of these people knowing what is on your credit report - shouldn't you? Knowing what is on your credit report can save you from unexpected surprises the next time you apply for a loan. Insuring the accuracy of your credit report is also very important. All too often people have found errors on their credit report that were damaging their credit score. Many times people have even been alerted to attempted identity theft by keeping an eye on their credit report.
Here is what you can expect to see on your credit report. There are four basic sections to the report which are broken down below:
1. Your personal information such as your name, social security number, date of birth, drivers license number, address and telephone number, br>2. Your credit history which contains a listing of all open and closed credit lines including the original amount of the loan as well as the current balance on the loan, the type of loan (credit card, department store credit, mortgage etc.), the status of the loan whether it is active or closed, and the timeliness of your payments
4. A listing of inquiries made on your credit report by potential lenders who pull your credit report when considering issuing you a loan or credit card.
If you do find errors on your credit report they can be disputed and corrected. Be aware that this may take some time. That is why it is always recommended to stay on top of things and know what is on your credit report. Being alert and informed will help insure that nothing sneaks its way on to your credit report.