What is a Free Credit Report?

You know you can get a free credit report but just exactly what is a credit report? A credit report is a factual record of your financial activities involving loans, credit cards and your bill paying history. Lending institutions are permitted to check your credit report and review your payment history in making a determination on whether to approve a loan for you. When you made your first purchase with a credit card or got a loan for a car you began establishing a credit history. Nearly all the information in your credit report comes from the business you have dealt with. Lenders report any payment made or not made to credit report agencies. It is a good idea to get your free credit report on a regular basis to make sure it is accurate.

What kind of information is contained in your credit report? The credit report actually includes four areas of information. You would expect the report to cover your personal information. This personal information identifies you and includes your name, social security number, current address and previous addresses, your phone number, your date of birth, current employer, and previous employment history.

Your credit report includes your credit history. It includes your history of payments for all credit cards, payments to banks or other lending institutions for personal loans, auto loans, or mortgages. It will also include any credit purchases financed through retail stores. This information can be recorded and have errors. This is the reason you should get your free credit report to check for accuracy.

Your credit report also includes any inquiries that have been made concerning your credit. Any financial institution that has made an inquiry about you will be listed. The fewer of these you have on your credit report is better for your credit rating. Your free credit report will let you know who has been checking on you.

The fourth area of information included in your credit report is your public records. These records include bankruptcies, tax liens, and court judgments including child support judgments. This is another reason for getting your free credit report. An item may appear that should have been removed and has not been. Maybe you had a tax lien filed against you several years ago and you have satisfied the lien but it still remains on your record. If this occurs, you can have it removed or get a written statement that it has been satisfied but just has not been removed.

Your credit report is made available to certain types of organizations in addition to those considering giving you a loan. Government agencies may be checking your eligibility for government benefits. Landlords may check before renting and employers may be checking to see if you are financially responsible. This is the reason you should make use of your free credit report. You need to know what is in your report and who has been checking on you.