Student Credit: Learning to Read your Credit Report
This article will give you a complete lesson on what you need to know about when you are learning to read your credit report. It can be very hard to understand a credit report if you have never seen one before.
To begin this discussion, you must know how to order a copy of your credit report. There are three different credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Each of these credit bureaus will have most of the same information on your credit report but some of the information can be different, depending upon what it can be. When you are ordering your credit report, you should order a copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus.
When ordering your copy, this can be done in one of three ways: online, through the mail, or over the phone. Go to the following website: annualcreditreport.com. From this website, you can decide how you want to order a copy of your credit report as listed from before. You can also get your credit score with your credit report but this will cost you a slight bit of money. This can be very good for you if you have had credit in the past so you have an idea what your credit score is and under what range it falls in (good, excellent, fair, or poor).
By this point, you should have ordered a copy of your credit report. When you start scrolling through your credit report, the beginning starts with your name, current address, and usually the place of employment. It will then list public records you may have. Public records can include collections from bills you may not have paid and this can include utilities or medical bills. Following the public records, there will come a list of negative factors which bring down your credit score. These may include the fact that your credit history is too short, too many revolving accounts (credit cards or lines of credit) among other factors.
The final piece of information which takes up the most space on the credit report will be a detailed listing of each credit account. It will include how long the credit accounts are open along with whether the account is open or closed. It will also list whether your payments are on time and you will see the past forty eight months and whether payments were on time or late. Late payments are included as either thirty, sixty, or ninety days late. The credit account will also list the original balance if it is a loan or the maximum credit limit if it is a line of credit. It will then list what your current balance is and your monthly minimum payment.
When you are reading your credit report, these are all of the pieces of information you will find on your credit report. This will ensure that you will have a good idea of what your financial report card looks like and whether it is good or bad.
