Money Tips

What Is Credit Report? Everything You Need To Know

So far we have talked about why score is important and how it is essential to keep a check on your credit report if you wish to improve your score fast.

But, what is it? How can you get it? What information does it contain?

These are all the questions that we are going to answer quickly in this article.

You can think of credit report as a single piece of paper that contains all the information on your credit activity, ongoing credit situation, types of credit you use, etc.

However, one person can have multiple credit reports. Surprisingly, they can also vary. For example, the report your receive from one bureau might be different than the report assembled by the other bureau.

Credit bureaus are responsible for gathering your credit-related information and formulating it into a report that can be accessed by hiring companies, lenders, credit card providers, etc.

Furthermore, you have an access to free credit report and you can always check out the kind of information that have made a part of your history. Moreover, if you do not agree with what they have written, you can always dispute the data and demand an improvement. However, that is only possible if your claim is correct.

Let’s quickly have a look at what it typically contains.

What Does a Credit Report Contain?

A credit report is a combination of your personal information, credit account information, and some public records.

When it comes to personal information, the report mentions your full name, contact number, social security number, and contact addresses.

The section on credit account is more details because that is where the gist of your data lies. The first and the foremost thing mentioned here would be your score. Additionally, it would highlight current account as well as the ones you had in past, credit limit, account balance, payment history, and the dates when different accounts were opened or closed.

The last section is about your public records. These would include liens, bankruptcies, judgements and also the number of inquries, hard or soft, that have been carries out on your report.

All this data, altogether, forms credit report. Now, we will move on to discuss when credit report is important and why you should a check on it. Stay tuned!

Why Is Credit Report Important?

Actually, a credit report can make or break the reputation you have in front of credit card providers or lenders.

Since it contains all the information related to your credit accounts and history, it provides a complete insight to your credit-related habits.

Lenders always take a look at your credit report before approving or disapproving you for a loan. They use it to determine whether you meet their criteria of a suitable candidate or not.

Similarly, a good data would give you access to better credit cards and loans on better terms/conditions. If the report shows that your financial standing is staggering, you might not be approved for any such services at all.

What Is Credit Report Dispute?

Also. credit reports are assembled by credit bureaus and there are solid chances that the workers might make some errors unintentionally. Therefore, if you have any doubt about your credit score or the information on your report, you can always dispute it by filling out a dispute form.

In fact, fixing such errors on your report is one of the quickest way to improve your credit score. However, this is only possible if the claim you made in indeed correct. Otherwise, no changes would be made on the report