Introduction
The credit report is an important determinant of an individual's financial credibility. They are used by lenders to judge a person's creditworthiness. They also help the person concerned to narrow down on the financial problem areas.
It is imperative for individuals to try and maintain a credit report, which is good. Negative information
once imprinted on a credit report usually remains for around 7 years. The comparable time frame for bankruptcy filings is around 10 years.
Definition
Credit report is a document, which comprises detailed information about the credit payment history of an individual. It is mostly used by the lenders to determine the credit worthiness of an individual.
Credit report includes information on a variety of issues. Some of them are described below.
It contains personal data, which comprise of past and present addresses, employment history and the individuals social security number.
It also contains the summarized credit history of an individual. Information on the number of accounts and the type of accounts of an individual are available here. Information on 'good standing' accounts as also 'past-due' accounts are provided in credit reports.
Along with comprehensive account information credit reports also display information about the inquiries made on an individual's credit history.
In short credit reports contain info on the following heads.
Loans
Recent inquiries
Credit accounts
Late payments
Bankruptcies
Types of Credit Report
Usually there are three kinds of credit reports. They are as follows.
Annual credit report
Business credit report and
Consumer credit report
The Annual credit report is prepared by each of the 3 US credit reporting agencies, which are Experian,
TransUnion and Exuifax. The credit report comprises US consumer credit history. The “Fair Accurate Credit Transaction” alternatively known as FACT states that, all US consumers can avail a free transcript of credit report yearly from any of the above mentioned national bureaus on request. Any subsequent requests for credit reports will entail payment to these US credit bureaus.
Business credit report essentially documents the credit history of business organizations. This report also comes for free.
Consumer credit report involves consumer credit history as documented by US credit reporting agencies. Its primary difference with the annual credit report lies in the fact that consumers can place a demand for it at any point of time in a year. It is not free. Consumers can access online consumer credit reports, which are instant on the payment of the requisite fees.