Check Credit Report |
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Managing your finances on a day-to-day basis is essential. You should chalk out some time every day to make sure that your financial health is in good shape. Just like the daily routines and monthly or yearly check ups that you have, your credit cards and loans have to be monitored. This becomes necessary because your credit cards and loans reflect on your credit report. It is important to keep a check on your credit report because most credit card companies and banks check your credit report before considering you for a loan. If you are negligent about it, one day you will find yourself in the midst of a situation of denials for loans and credit cards and your earlier lenders asking you for a complete refund of the loan you took from them. A time can come when misinformation in your credit report can harm your prospects for loans or even make you pay high interest for credit cards and damage your reputation in your workplace. Credit Report Access Your credit report is an important piece of information for all your lenders, advocates, employers, other financial institutions, landlords, credit unions, car dealers, mortgagors, investigators, courts, utility companies and credit card companies. Anyone who has a valid reason to give, can gain access to your credit report. What Credit Reports Include There are many things that are included in your credit report. They are classified broadly in these categories: 1) Personal information: name, address, age, occupation, marital status, salary, spouse's occupation, former employers and more. 2) Reported accounts: these accounts are of two kinds a) Monthly accounts: the different financial institutions like the banks, credit card companies, commercial lenders, large departmental stores and oil and gas companies that have your account, report your monthly history. This includes the balance due, current limit and payment history. b) Default account: these are the local creditors who do not send any monthly information to the credit bureau. They send your report to the bureau only when you have defaulted with them. These lenders are the landlords, utility companies, a store or an insurance company. 3) Public information:legal disputes like court judgments, lawsuits and bankruptcies are included in this. Some loans and debts you owe to credit card companies are also included. 4) Inquiries: number of times your credit report has been pulled out for inquiries. Any one who has requested your credit report in the last year (credit card companies, landlords and other financial institutions) is included in this. These inquiries stay on your account for almost two years. The more inquiries made, the more suspicious your creditor becomes. These are a few things included in your credit report besides many others. Any bank or credit card company looks for your details thoroughly from this very credit report. If you find any error or think that some changes are required, you should refer to your credit report and ask for the necessary changes that have to be made. Finally, if you are in the process of applying for a big loan, then you should make it a point to get your credit report corrected. A lot depends on what your credit report holds and what are your dealings with your credit card companies. |
