What is a Credit Report By FederatedCreditCards.Com Copyright © 2008

A credit report contains the details of your financial life; every account you've opened in the past, agreements and contracts that in some way involve making payments, all are shown on your credit report. The details include chronological information about each account, such as initiation date, and termination date, payment history, loan amounts, missed and late payments. Your credit report also will include references to public records that are important to the state of your finances, i.e. bankruptcies, actions taken because of unpaid bills, and foreclosures. And then of course your credit report contains personal information such as social security number, name, address, employer, and birth date, -used to identify you. The final important item on your credit report is any recent credit inquires. The names of anyone who obtained your credit report in the last two years will be included.

Credit reports were originally intended to be used by lending institutions such as banks, mortgages companies, and credit card companies. Now days, your credit report may be used by insurance companies, landlords, potential employers, and others. Your credit report establishes your financial reputation of sorts. Do not under estimate the importance of your credit report. Remember, people who are making credit and employment decisions usually will not know you personally. They make those decisions based on the information available to them.

Given the expanded use of credit reports it's important to note that information disputes can be recorded in your credit report. So if you believe information in your report is incorrect, you have the right to dispute that information and have your side of the story included in your credit report. Federal law forces the major credit bureaus to investigate claims of incorrect information they are reporting with in 30 days of receiving written notice. Do remember, you have the right by law to review and dispute items on your credit report that you disagree with or feel are wrong. Please see our leaning center article on Disputing Inaccurate Credit Information for more details.

As a general rule your credit history information stays in your credit report for seven years. Public records like bankruptcy may remain on your credit report for 10 years.

Do remember, you are entitled to receive one free credit report every year from each of the three major credit reporting companies -Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Your free credit report can be obtained through www.annualcreditreport.com or by directly contacting the companies by mail or phone.

Equifax
P.O. Box 105873
Atlanta, GA 30348
Tel: (800) 685-1111
http://www.equifax.com

Trans Union
Consumer Disclosure Center
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
Tel: (800) 916-8800 or (800) 888-4213
http://www.transunion.com

Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
Tel: (888) 397-3742
http://www.experian.com