How to read a credit report
Generally a credit report contains five parts:
- Personal information
- Public record information
- Credit account information
- Collection agency information
- Inquiries
All the parts are easy to understand except the credit account information section and the inquiry section which are classified alphanumerically.
The personal information includes information about the individual, Social Security number, current address, date of birth, contact numbers, license numbers, employer's address and spouse's name. Each account has the name of the creditor and their account number. There may be spelling mistakes in the name, address, employer address, spouse name etc. You need to check them and ask the credit bureau to change them if there are any spelling mistakes by filling out a form.
The credit history information part contains information about your creditor, his account information etc. This part includes information such as the date you opened your account, whether you have availed the credit on your own or with someone else and if so their information, the type of credit applied, the amount of the loan, the period of the loan, the balance, minimum payments per month and the status of the account.
The inquiries section details information of all those who wished to see your credit report. These are categorized as soft inquiries and hard inquiries. Those that you have initiated are hard inquiries. Soft inquiries mean inquiries by promotional companies etc who monitor your account for providing you with pre-approved loans etc.
If there is any discrepancy you would need to fill out a form and wait for the mistake to be rectified.
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