All About the Consumer Credit Report
When it comes to buying a home or a car, the most important thing is not how much money you have in the bank but what your consumer credit report says about you and how worthy you are of getting credit. There is nothing else like the consumer credit report when it comes to making a breaking a financial deal. Those who take care of their bills properly will reap the benefits through an excellent score on their credit report. But too many times people fail to realize just how important that report is and will allow things to slip and affect their credit.
If you want to know what is on your consumer credit report, you can request one free copy each year from each of the reporting agencies. There are three major ones that lenders will use to get information on you. It is important to understand just what all is on a consumer credit report so you know what these lenders will be looking at. It is also vital that you make sure that you are up to date with what is being reported about you in order to make sure that mistakes are corrected promptly and that no one is using your name to obtain credit illegally.
What's on it
Your consumer credit report will have such things like your personal information, which is used to identify thieves who are trying to use your credit. You will find your social security number, your previous and your current address, and your history of employment. Also, there will be a list of your credit history and all of the accounts you have opened up. It will describe how many days late your payments have ever been, how much your current balance is and how much credit you still have open.
Your consumer credit report will also give a list of all credit inquires that has recently been made for credit or credit history. Sometimes these inquires are made at the request of the individual because they are trying to obtain more credit. Then there are other times when companies you currently have credit through does a check up on you without you even realizing it. These are called soft or hard inquiries and the ones, which are just check ups on you, do not affect your score on your consumer credit report. Your credit report is important so make sure you take it seriously.
