Credit Reports for Dummies
Contributed by Kristy George
Where to Find My Credit Report
There are three major companies in the United States that handle credit reports: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. One website, www.annualcreditreport.com allows you to print a copy of your credit file from all three companies once every 12 months. It is a common myth that all three will be exactly alike, but that is not always the case. The reports may contain different information because creditors use whichever credit report company they choose. So it is wise to pull your report from all three.
A Credit Report Broken Down
Credit reports are divided into four sections: identifying information, credit history, public records and inquiries.
Identifying information is the usual name, address and social number. There also may be variations of your name listed, spelled in different ways. Other information found on your credit report can include previous addresses, date of birth, driver's license number, telephone number, last known employer and possibly your spouse's name.
The next section is your credit history. Some people refer to the individual accounts as trade lines.
Each account will list the name of the creditor and the account number, but may not list the entire account number for security reasons. It will also include account opened date, type of credit, your credit limit and balance, whether your payments are fixed or minimum monthly payments, and whether the account is open or closed. Then most importantly, it will list your payment history. On some reports this section is easy to read while others have number systems to show how you paid.
These range from current to 30 days late. Their can also be comments such as "In Collection" or "Charged Off" meaning the creditor has given up trying to obtain payment from you.
