Businesses Can Check Your Credit Report Without Your Permission

Source : http://www.creditorweb.com/ permits to republish here.

For many of us, credit reports are mysterious, and sometimes scary, records of our financial history.
We know that we should check them often; invalid items show up sometimes which need to be disputed.
But did you know that businesses can pull your credit report without your permission?
It’s true. And when you consider the fact that pulling your report can potentially lower your credit score, it’s no wonder some card holders are unhappy.

Why does it affect your score when someone checks your credit? It doesn’t always.
Sometimes creditors can check your credit report with a “soft” inquiry, which doesn’t count against you.
This is the type of credit check that is performed when you check your own credit or get pre-screened by credit card companies.
“Hard” inquiries occur when you actively apply for a line of credit, such as a credit card or a loan. These inquiries can decrease your credit score.
Creditors don’t like to see a lot of hard inquiries in a short period of time.
When too many hard inquiries are present, the suggestion is that you’re applying for more credit than you can handle – a big no-no.

Problems start when businesses use hard inquiries without a person’s knowledge or consent.
It’s typical for employers to check your credit in this way, but even rental car agencies will pull your credit report if you reserve a car using a debit card rather than a credit card.
Renting a car is not a good reason for a decrease in your credit score.
Some customers have been able to dispute these hard inquiries in the same way that they dispute other items on their credit reports.
Others aren’t overly concerned. Hard inquiries lose their impact over a relatively short amount of time.

There are other circumstances where your credit report can be subject to hard inquiries without your consent.
These include credit transactions and collections; any business transaction that you initiate; underwriting insurance; reviewing any open account to ensure that your credit is still good enough to qualify for said account; and determining your eligibility for government benefits which are dependent upon your financial situation.

If you’re concerned about items that could be having a negative impact on your credit score, order a copy of your credit report. You’re eligible for one free copy per year.
Visit a site like AnnualCreditReport.Com to request your report from all three of the major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

Once you receive your report, dispute any items that you feel are undeserved.
You can do this by sending a certified letter to the creditor and the credit bureaus stating your claim that the items are invalid and should be removed. The FTC offers a sample letter template on their web site.
The creditor will have thirty days to respond.
If they fail to prove that the item is valid, it will be removed from your credit report.
You’re entitled to a copy of the corrected report.
Also, think about subscribing to a low-cost credit monitoring service to keep an eye on your credit score and the things that affect it.

It’s a sad truth that we don’t always have control over the things that impact our credit score. But by ordering your credit report and disputing any unwarranted negative items, you will have the satisfaction of righting the wrongs and saving your financial future.

This article is courtesy of CreditorWeb.com, where you can compare business credit card offers and apply for credit cards online.

Click ref : Credit Score ( CreditReport .com & ScoreDirct ) --- Credit Repair --- Payday Loan/Mortgage/Grants ( 100 day loan & Cash in 24 hours )

How to Obtain a Free Credit Report and Check it for Errors

Source : http://www.creditorweb.com/ permits to republish here.

As a resident of the United States, the three main credit reporting companies in the country are required under law to provide one free credit report (each) to anyone who requests them within any given year. The three large credit reporting companies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and they are strictly monitored by Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to provide correct and true information.

Information from a person’s credit report provides companies, such as credit card companies, mortgage loaners, insurance companies, and potential employers, information on where a person currently lives, where a person has lived in the past several years, the person’s financial history – including any bankruptcies – and whether or not a person has been involved in any legal proceedings in the past.

Companies use this information to figure out what sort of risk a person is in terms of whether or not money should be lent or credit should be extended/offered to them. Because there is so much vital information included on a credit report, and it contains a good representation about a person’s ability to be responsible and trustworthy, it’s important for a person to monitor what is on his or her credit report, and ensure that everything on the report is correct and current.

The three main credit reporting companies in the United States all keep track of basically the same information. However, sometimes one credit agency will pick up and report slightly different information from the others. This is why it’s important to check the data on all three credit reports from all three companies on a yearly basis.

All of the reporting agencies have websites and toll-free telephone numbers which can be used to order free credit reports. If it seems time consuming to contact all three credit reporting agencies, there is a website (www.annualcreditreport.com) which will provide free credit reports from all three credit reporting companies with one single order. This prevents the need for contacting each reporting company individually.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns against seeing commercials on television that advertise free credit reports and acting upon them. The same sorts of advertisements are also located in numerous places on the internet, and they should be used only with extreme caution. Any website offering free copies of credit reports, besides www.annualcreditreport.com are usually out to make money. While they may offer free credit reports, they may try to charge users a fee for some sort of other credit reporting service.

In order to obtain free credit reports either from one individual or all three different credit reporting agencies, personal information is needed. Some of the data that must be available are a social security number, current and previous addresses, and other information that should (hopefully) only be known by the person whose name is on the report(s).

In today’s age of obtaining information instantly via the internet, receiving copies of credit reports is no exception. If correct information is submitted to www.annualcreditreport.com, the information on all three credit reports will almost instantly appear and be printable within seconds. On the other hand, if the credit reports are ordered via telephone, they may take a couple of weeks to arrive in the mail.

Once the credit reports are received, they should be thoroughly evaluated for any mistakes and inaccurate information. Any errors should be brought to the attention of the credit reporting company immediately. Under law, the credit reporting company must correct any and all mistakes, if there is proof that the mistakes and mis-information are legitimately incorrect. The agencies will work to determine if the errors are in need of correction and will usually make the changes on a credit report within a month.

This article is courtesy of CreditorWeb.com, where you can compare business credit card offers and apply for credit cards online.

Click ref : Credit Score --- Credit Repair --- Payday Loan/Mortgage/Grants

Credit History / Report - Wikipedia

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Souce : Wikipedia permits to republish here at based on restrictions Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License  and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Contents in wikipedia is frequently revised and I endeaver to put in the latest version here.
But I suggest you visit them frequently just in case.

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This article deals with the general concept of the term credit history. For detailed information about the same topic in the United States, see Credit score (United States).

Credit history or credit report is, in many countries, a record of an individual's or company's past borrowing and repaying, including information about late payments and bankruptcy. The term "credit reputation" can either be used synonymous to credit history or to credit score.


In the U.S., when a customer fills out an application for credit from a bank, store or credit card company, their information is forwarded to a credit bureau. The credit bureau matches the name, address and other identifying information on the credit applicant with information retained by the bureau in its files.That's why it's very important for creditors, lenders and others to provide accurate data to credit bureaus. ^[1]


This information is used by lenders such as credit card companies to determine an individual's credit worthiness; that is, determining an individual's willingness to repay a debt. The willingness to repay a debt is indicated by how timely past payments have been made to other lenders. Lenders like to see consumer debt obligations paid on a monthly basis.


There has been much discussion over the accuracy of the data in consumer reports. However, the only scientifically researched studies that include sample sizes large enough to be valid have generally concluded the data in credit reports is very accurate. ^{[2] [3]} The credit bureaus point to their own study of 52 million credit reports to highlight that the data in reports is very accurate. The Consumer Data Industry Association testified before Congress that less than two percent of those reports that resulted in a consumer dispute had data deleted because it was in error.^[4]


If a consumer disputes some information in a credit report, the credit bureau has 30 days to verify the data. Over 70 percent of these consumer disputes are resolved within 14 days and then the consumer is notified of the resolution.^[4] The Federal Trade Commission states that one large credit bureau notes 95 percent of those who dispute an item seem satisfied with the outcome.^[5]


The other factor in determining whether a lender will provide a consumer credit or a loan is dependent on income. The higher the income, all other things being equal, the more credit the consumer can access. However, lenders make credit granting decisions based on both ability to repay a debt (income) and willingness (the credit report) as indicated in the past payment history.


These factors help lenders determine whether to extend credit, and on what terms. With the adoption of risk-based pricing on almost all lending in the financial services industry, this report has become even more important since it is usually the sole element used to choose the annual percentage rate (APR), grace period and other contractual obligations of the credit card or loan.

Contents [hide] 1 Calculating a credit rating 2 Acquiring and understanding credit reports and scores 3 Credit history of immigrants 4 Adverse credit 5 Consequences 6 More than One Credit History Per Person 7 See also 8 References

Calculating a credit rating

Credit ratings vary from scoring model to scoring model, but in general the FICO scoring system is the standard in U.S., Canada and other global areas. The factors are similar and may include:

• Payment history (35% contribution on the FICO scale) - A record of negative information can lower a consumer's credit rating or score. In general risk scoring systems look for any of the following negative events; charge offs, collections, late payments, repossessions, foreclosures, settlements, bankruptcies, liens, and judgements. Within this category FICO considers the severity of the negative item, the age of the negative items and the prevalence of negative items. Newer is worse than older. More severe is worse than less severe. And, many is worse than few.
• Debt (30% contribution on the FICO score) - This category considers the amount and type of debt carried by a consumer as reflected on their credit reports. There are three types of debt considered.

• Revolving debt - This is credit card debt, retail card debt and some petroleum cards. And while home equity lines of credit have revolving terms the bulk of debt considered is true unsecured revolving debt incurred on plastic. The most important measurement from this category is called "Revolving Utilization", which is the relationship between the consumer's aggregate credit card balances and the available credit card limits, also called "open to buy." This is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by dividing the aggregate credit card balances by the aggregate credit limits and multiplying the result by 100, thus yielding the utilization percentage. The higher that percentage the lower your score will likely be. This is why closing credit cards is generally not a good idea for someone trying to improve their credit scores. Closing one or more credit card accounts will reduce your total available credit limits and likely increase the utilization percentage unless the cardholder reduces their balances at the same pace.
• Installment debt - This is debt where there is a fixed payment for a fixed period of time. An auto loan is a good example as you're generally making the same payment for 36, 48, or 60 months. While installment debt is considered in risk scoring systems it is a distant second in its important behind the revolving credit card debt. Installment debt is generally secured by an asset like a car, home, or boat. As such, consumers will use extraordinary efforts to make their payments so their asset isn't repossessed by the lender for non-payment.
• Open debt - This is the least common type of debt. This is debt that must be paid in full each month. An example is any one of the variety of credit cards that are "pay in full" products. The American Express Green card is a common example. Open debt is treated like revolving credit card debt in older version of the FICO scoring system but is excluded from the revolving utilization calculation in newer versions.

• Time in file (Credit File Age) (15% contribution on the FICO scale) - The older your credit report the more stable it is, in general. As such, your score should benefit from an old credit report. This "age" is determined two ways; the age of your credit file and the average age of the accounts on your credit file. The age of your credit file is determined by the oldest account's "date opened", which sets the age of the credit file. The average age is set by averaging the age of every account on the credit report, whether open or closed.
• Account Diversity (10% contribution on the FICO scale) - Your credit score will benefit by having a diverse set of account types on your credit file. Having experience across multiple account types (installment, revolving, auto, mortgage, cards, etc) is generally a good thing for your scores because you're proving the ability to manage different account types.
• The Search for New Credit (Credit inquiries) (10% contribution on the FICO scale) – An inquiry is noted every time a company requests some information from a consumer's credit file. There are several kinds of inquiries that may or may not affect one's credit score. Inquiries that have no effect on the creditworthiness of a consumer (also known as "soft inquiries"), which remain on your credit reports for 6 months and are never visible to lenders or credit scoring models, are:
  • Prescreening inquiries where a credit bureau may sell a person's contact information to an institution that issues credit cards, loans and insurance based on certain criteria that the lender has established.
  • A creditor also checks its customers' credit files periodically. This is referred to as Account Management, Account Maintenance or Account Review.
  • A credit counseling agency, with the client's permission, can obtain a client's credit report with no adverse action.
  • A consumer can check his or her own credit report without impacting creditworthiness. This is referred to as a "consumer disclosure" inquiry.
  • Employment screening inquiries
  • Insurance related inquiries
  • Utility related inquiries
• Inquiries that can have an effect on the creditworthiness of a consumer, and are visible to lenders and credit scoring models, (also known as "hard inquiries") are made by lenders when consumers are seeking credit or a loan, in connection with permissible purpose. Lenders, when granted a permissible purpose, as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, can "pull" a consumer file for the purposes of extending credit to a consumer. Hard inquiries can, but don't always, affect the borrower's credit score. Keeping credit inquiries to a minimum can help a person's credit rating. A lender may perceive many inquiries over a short period of time on a person's report as a signal that the person is in financial difficulty, and may consider that person a poor credit risk.

• 35% - Payment History: Negative information.
• 30% - Debt: How much and what type?
• 15% - Length Of Credit History: This is how long you've had credit
• 10% - Credit Diversity: This is the different types of credit experience you've had
• 10% - Inquiries (hard): This is when a creditor checks your credit report

Acquiring and understanding credit reports and scores

There are many businesses that aim to make money by providing services to consumers to check their credit reports and confirm the information in them. These companies advertise heavily. In the US, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its amendments require that any national consumer credit reporting agency (including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and any national specialty consumer reporting agency (including Innovis, PRBC, Teletrack) provide a free copy of the credit reports for any consumer who requests it, once per year. Free annual credit reports for Experian, Equifax and TransUnion may be requested at https://www.annualcreditreport.com. Note that many imposter websites with names similar to www.annualcreditreport.com exist, and users will see promotions for extra credit-checking services that cost money. Carefully following the process and declining for-pay services will allow users to get their free annual credit reports. Also note that the free reports do not include the consumer's credit score. Rather, they provide a list of accounts so users can confirm that no erroneous information is on the reports.


Information from the GSA Federal Citizen Information Center (US government) is available for free download in .pdf form at http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov. Look for the pamphlets "Building a Better Credit Report" and "Your Credit Scores."


Free information about understanding one's credit report and credit score is also available from MoneyWi$e, a non-profit partnership between Consumer Action and Capital One, at http://www.money-wise.org.


The government of Canada offers a free publication called Understanding Your Credit Report and Credit Score. This publication provides sample credit report and credit score documents with explanations of the notations and codes that are used. It also contains general information on how to build or improve credit history, and how to check for signs that identity theft has occurred. The publication is available online through http://www.fcac.gc.ca, the site of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Paper copies can also be ordered at no charge for residents of Canada.

Credit history of immigrants

Credit history usually applies to only one country. Even within the same credit card network, information is not shared between different countries. For example, if a person has been living in Canada for many years and then moves to the United States, when they apply for credit cards or a mortgage in the U.S., they would usually not be approved because of a lack of credit history, even if they had an excellent credit rating in their home country and even if they had a very high salary in their home country.


An immigrant must establish a credit history from scratch in the new country. Therefore, it is usually very difficult for immigrants to obtain credit cards and mortgages until after they have worked in the new country with a stable income for several years.


Some credit card companies (e.g. American Express) can transfer credit cards from one country to another and this way help starting a credit history.

Adverse credit

Adverse credit history, also called sub-prime credit history, non-status credit history, impaired credit history, poor credit history, and bad credit history, is a negative credit rating.


A negative credit rating is often considered undesirable to lenders and other extenders of credit for the purposes of loaning money or capital.^[6]


In the U.S., a consumer's credit history is compiled by consumer reporting agencies or credit bureaus. The data reported to these agencies are primarily provided to them by creditors and includes detailed records of the relationship a person has with the lender. Detailed account information, including payment history, credit limits, high and low balances, and any aggressive actions taken to recover overdue debts, are all reported regularly (usually monthly). This information is reviewed by a lender to determine whether to approve a loan and on what terms.


As credit became more popular, it became more difficult for lenders to evaluate and approve credit card and loan applications in a timely and efficient manner. To address this issue, credit scoring was adopted.^{[citation needed]}A benefit of scoring was that it made credit available to more consumers and at less cost.^[7]


Credit scoring is the process of using a proprietary mathematical algorithm to create a numerical value that describes an applicant's overall creditworthiness. Scores, frequently based on numbers (ranging from 300–850 for consumers in the United States), statistically analyze a credit history, in comparison to other debtors, and gauge the magnitude of financial risk. Since lending money to a person or company is a risk, credit scoring offers a standardized way for lenders to assess that risk rapidly and "without prejudice."^{[citation needed]} All credit bureaus also offer credit scoring as a supplemental service.


Credit scores assess the likelihood that a borrower will repay a loan or other credit obligation. The higher the score, the better the credit history and the higher the probability that the loan will be repaid on time. When creditors report an excessive number of late payments, or trouble with collecting payments, the score suffers. Similarly, when adverse judgments and collection agency activity are reported, the score decreases even more. Repeated delinquencies or public record entries can lower the score and trigger what is called a negative credit rating or adverse credit history.


Your credit score is a number calculated from factors such as the amount of credit outstanding versus how much you owe, your past ability to pay all your bills on time, how long you've had credit, types of credit used and number of inquiries. The three major consumer reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion all sell credit scores to lenders. Fair Isaac is one of the major developers of credit scores used by these consumer reporting agencies. The complete way in which your FICO score is calculated is complex. One of the factors in your Fico score is credit checks on your credit history. When a lender requests a credit score, it can cause a small drop in the credit score.^[8][9] That is because, as stated above, a number of inquiries over a relatively short period of time can indicate the consumer is in a financially difficult situation.

Consequences

The information in a credit report is sold by credit agencies to organizations that are considering whether to offer credit to individuals or companies. It is also available to other entities with a "permissible purpose", as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The consequence of a negative credit rating is typically a reduction in the likelihood that a lender will approve an application for credit under favorable terms, if at all. Interest rates on loans are significantly affected by credit history; the higher the credit rating, lower the interest while the lower the credit rating, the higher the interest. The increased interest is used to offset the higher rate of default within the low credit rating group of individuals.


In the United States insurance, housing, and employment can be denied based on a negative credit rating.


Note that it is not the credit reporting agencies that decide whether a credit history is "adverse." It is the individual lender or creditor which makes that decision, each lender has its own policy on what scores fall within their guidelines. The specific scores that fall within a lender's guidelines are most often NOT disclosed to the applicant due to competitive reasons. In the United States, a creditor is required to give the reasons for denying credit to an applicant immediately and must also provide the name and address of the credit reporting agency who provided data that was used to make the decision.

More than One Credit History Per Person

In some countries, people can have more than one credit history. For example, in Canada, although most Canadians are not aware of it, every person who applied for credit before obtaining a Social Insurance Number has two separate credit histories, one with SIN and one without SIN. This is due to the credit reporting structure in Canada. This can lead to two completely separate parallel histories, and often leads to inconsistencies (although typically the person in question will never notice the inconsistencies), because when a lender asks for someone's credit report with SIN, what the lender gets is different from what he would have gotten if he asked the report without providing the SIN. This is because, contrary to popular belief, when someone gets a new SIN for whatever reason, the two credit files are never merged unless the person requests specifically. As a result, a record with SIN zeroed out is kept separately from a record with SIN. Note this happens without the person even knowing it.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Alternative data
• Comparison of free credit report websites
• Credit bureau
• Credit card
• Credit rating agency
• Credit reference agency
• Credit score
• Identity theft
• Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
• Office of Fair Trading
• Remortgage
• Seasoned trade lines

References

1. ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/19/credit-agencies-are-the-messengers/
2. ^ Credit Report Accuracy and Access to Credit. Federal Reserve Bulletin. Summer 2004
3. ^ Allstate Insurance Company’s Additional Written Testimony: Allstate’s Use of Insurance Scoring. 23 Jul 2002.
4. ^ ^{a b} Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission on Credit Reports: Consumers' Ability to Dispute and Change Inaccurate Information: Hearing Before the Committee on Financial Services. 19 Jun 2007.
5. ^ Report to Congress on the Fair Credit Reporting Act Dispute Process. Federal Trade Commission. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Aug 2006.
6. ^ Turner, Michael A et al., Give Credit Where Credit Is Due, Political and Economic Research Council, 1.
7. ^ http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/RptCongress/creditscore/creditscore.pdf
8. ^ "Facts & Fallacies". Fair Isaac Corporation. http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/FactsFallacies.aspx. Retrieved 2007-08-08. 
9. ^ "What’s In Your Score". Fair Isaac Corporation. http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/WhatsInYourScore.aspx. Retrieved 2007-08-08. 

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Finding what is on your credit report

Source : http://www.creditorweb.com/ permits to republish here.

A credit report is basically a file about you kept by lenders and banks.
As annoying as it may be, it's still perfectly legal for them to gather all sorts of details about you. In turn, you have the right to check this file - and you should do so and inquire regularly about your credit report and your credit score, particularly when you plan a big financial change, for instance, before applying for a loan or a mortgage, you should always take time and review your credit report.
This allows you not only to plan your moves accurately, but also to dispute any mistakes that might occur in the report.


The credit report is an accurate record of your financial activities, including the accounts you have, the credits you may have taken so far, any late payments, and the actions started against you for financial reasons.
This report is used to determine your credit rating - which is a number indicating your financial risks.


The information typically included in a credit report refers to your personal identification data, credit information, public record information and a list of recent inquiries.
The personal identification data, as you may expect, means your name, social security number, address (current and previous addresses), employer (also current and previous), your birth date, and so on.
 If applicable, your file may contain similar information about your spouse.


The credit information is your financial history - your accounts, loans and repayment records for the past two years, from all the banks, lenders, retailers, card issuers, other credit companies, and so on.
The public record information records bankruptcy, monetary judgments and tax liens.


The list of recent inquiries contains the names of those who obtained your credit report in the past year.
Various people and organizations may get access to your credit report, usually anybody who can prove a legitimate business interest, creditors, insurers, employers and governmental agencies.
This list is kept for one year, while the credit history information is kept for seven years, and, if you file for bankruptcy, that sticks for ten years.


If you want to see your credit report, you need to check with the respective reporting agency. A reporting agency is a company that maintains and updates the database, and sells the reports to those who are interested.
There are many such credit bureaus all over the country, serving local markets, and three major, long-established ones: Equifax, Trans Union and Experian (formerly TRW).
These are the companies you need to contact when you want to see your credit report - online, at http://www.equifax.com, http://www.transunion.com and http://www.experian.com, or offline, by calling them or writing to them.


When you ask for your credit report, you will be required to provide your personal info (name, address, social security number, and so on, sometimes for your spouse as well, where applicable).
Also, a small fee applies. From Equifax, the 3-in-1 credit report (meaning a complete credit history from all three credit reporting agencies) is $29.95 or $39.95 for the credit report with the credit score included.
At Trans Union, the complete 3-in-1 credit report is $29.95 (the online version), with one free credit score. If you want all three credit scores, you'll need to pay an additional $9.95. From Experian, the complete credit reports from the three credit bureaus costs $34.95, and includes a Free Experian credit score.
It is important to view results from all three major credit bureaus, because they don't share information among them, and because lenders may report to one or another of these bureaus, so results may not always match.


The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles each consumer to one free disclosure every 12 months. Also, you can avoid these fees if you request to see your credit report within 60 days of having been denied credit or insurance because of the report.
Also, you don't have to pay if you're on welfare, you're unemployed and intend to look for a job within 60 days or your report contains mistakes due to fraud.

This article is courtesy of CreditorWeb.com, where you can compare business credit card offers and apply for credit cards online.


Source : http://www.creditorweb.com/ permits to republish here.


Click ref : Credit Score ( CreditReport .com & ScoreDirct ) --- Credit Repair --- Payday Loan/Mortgage/Grants ( 100 day loan & Cash in 24 hours )

What's in a Credit Report?

Source : http://www.creditorweb.com/ permits to republish here.

Thanks to a new federal law put into place in September of 2005,
everyone is entitled to one free credit report each year.  This is
so that you can verify that your report does not contain any false
information, and so you can see how your credit rates.  Getting
your annual free report is as easy as going to the authorized source,
www.annualcreditreport.com and requesting one.

Once you have your free report, what in the world do all those
abbreviations, numbers and codes mean?!  The most widely used
system for scoring is the FICO score, developed by The Fair Isaac
Corporation, and the number determines the risk to extend credit to an
individual.  Credit reports are usually divided into sections;
identifying information, public records, credit history, and inquiries
to your credit report from creditors looking to extend you credit based
on your credit score. 

The identifying information includes your name, address, and social
security number.  Make sure they are all correct.  Usually
this section will also include a list of your previous addresses, your
date of birth, phone number, spouse's name, employers
information. 
The public records section is the section you hope has no
information.  This is where a bankruptcy or judgment would show up
on your report, and it will harm your rating more than anything else on
the report, and take longer to repair.

The credit history section is the most confusing.  It will list
every creditor you've ever had business with, including accounts that
have been closed and those that remain open with no balances, and
accounts that you are currently making payments on.  Depending on
which credit reporting agency you get your report from, this section
will actually be displayed differently on each report.  Experian's
report displays it in ”english”, and states everything in common sense
terms, like ”pays on time”, ”pays 30 days late”, etc.  Reports
from other agencies might use numerical codes in a table that you have
to refer to another page to find out what each code means.  Either
way, make sure you agree with each creditors reporting of you since
this is how your score is determined.  If you have accounts that
you don't have the credit cards for anymore, or a loan that has been
paid off but remains on your report as a revolving credit (money
available to you as you pay it down), call and write each company to
ask them to close the account completely and report that to the credit
agencies.  Otherwise, it appears that you have all of that money
available to you, and that goes against your debt to income ratio.

The section called ”inquiries”, and it includes a list of everyone who
has ever looked at your report.  This will include credit
companies you've contacted to request a credit card or loan, but it
will also include what is considered ”soft” inquiries.  Soft
inquiries are any promotional offers, such as a retail store checking
into your credit history to determine whether or not to mail you an
offer for their credit card.  Soft inquiries do not harm your
overall credit score.

You can also get a copy of a credit report any time you've been denied
credit.  This is because there is always the possibility that
there are errors in your report, which prevented you from obtaining the
credit you applied for.  Regardless of how you get your report,
take the time to look it over and find any discrepancies (immediately
call the creditors in question and straighten it out) and close out any
accounts that you no longer use but are showing open and available to
you on your credit report.  Having your report will show you where
you stand if you're considering going for a mortgage, new vehicle, or
other loan.

This article is courtesy of CreditorWeb.com, where you can compare business credit card offers and apply for credit cards online.

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