Credit reports – what is in them anyway?

All credit reports contain essentially the same information in them. Credit reports have your personal identifying information such as your name, your social security number, where you live, when you where born and even your employment history. Credit reports contain information on all of your accounts you have open at the current time with any creditors. The account information contains specifics about your credit accounts such as your credit limit, current balance, whether you have made payments on time and what your monthly minimum payments are.

Think of your credit report as your personal credit report card. It is a report on your current and past credit history and your current credit status. You should make it a point to get copies of your report on a regular basis. It behooves you to not only know what is in it, but what is not in it. Many people have found erroneous reports on their credit. If you have a problem with an error in your credit report, you will not know unless you get regular copies of it. You may find errors when you go to get credit and are denied because there is something in your credit report that is an error. If you find an error, contact the credit bureau that is reporting it immediately and demand recourse. Do not delay when you find an error. Each reporting agency will have a policy and how you can dispute any discrepancies on your credit report.

A good way to manage your credit report and what is being reported on it is to certainly not wait until you need credit to find out what is in your personal credit report. Think of it this way, like your health, (other than a cold or flu) you do not want to wait until you are sick to go to the doctor, regular check ups can help detect health problems early. The same goes fort your credit.

You can request a copy of your credit report at any time. If you find that you have been denied credit for any reason that you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report – you just have to request that free copy within two months time. The company that denied you credit must inform you of the details of why they denied your credit in writing. This will come in the mail to you and that mail will contain how to get the free copy as well.

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