Personal Credit Reports
What is your credit report?
A credit report is a record of your credit history that is kept on file by credit reporting agencies.
The three major credit reporting agencies are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. The chances are that either one or perhaps all these companies have a file with your credit history. These files are called credit reports.
A credit report is a record of your credit history. Which documents your past credit transactions such as loan, credit card debt and repayment information. This information is made available to merchants, banks and other lending institutions, usually for a fee by these credit reporting agencies to help them decide whether or not to give you credit.
What kind of information does your credit report contain?
Your credit report contains information about your past and present personal and financial situation.
Personal information: Information such as your
name, current and previous addresses, social security number,
telephone number, date of birth, and your current and previous
employer(s).
Credit information: This would be information
about any credit you may already have, such as a credit cards, lines
of credit, loans or perhaps a mortgage.
Banking information: This is information about
your bank accounts. The accounts you have, If any of your cheques
have been dishonored due to non-sufficient funds etc
Public records: This is any information on the
public record such as a bankruptcy or a credit-related court
judgment against you in a lawsuit. Secured loans, which are backed
by an asset such as your home as collateral may also appear in your
credit report.
Collection information: This shows whether you
ever had a debt that you could not pay which was referred to a
collection agency for payment.
Consumer statement: This would be any statement you may have yourself placed on record with the credit agencies to explain a particular situation, such as a dispute with a financial institution or a fraud warning.
Credit report inquiries: This is a list of all of the people who have inquired about your credit: yourself, a lender, or any other authorized organization.
Credit reporting agencies usually assign a score to you based on your credit history. The better your score the better your chances of getting cheaper credit. Of course with low scores the chances are that you will either be denied credit or have to pay higher interest rates as the lenders will be taking a higher risk.
