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Although the format of your credit report may look different depending on what bureau it comes from, all of your personal credit reports will still contain the same type of information. The information that will be included on your credit profile:
Personal Information
The personal information contained in your credit report will include any names used by you. These means your full legal name, part of your legal name, the full name of any aliases you have used, and the partial name of any aliases you have used. If you are a woman who is or has been married, you will also see variations of both your maiden and married names on your credit report. For example if you went from being Suzy Ann James to Suzy Ann Wilson, you may see:
Suzy Ann James
Suzy Ann Wilson
S James
S Wilson
Suzy A James
Suzy A Wilson
S A James
S A Wilson
Suzy James
Suzy Wilson
You may also see names that are the result of typos made by employees in a creditor billing department. For example, Suzy Wilson many also see a Suzy Ilson, a S Willson, or a Suzy Ann Wildon.
The personal information contained in your credit report will also include any current or old address and phone numbers ever used by you. There may also be variations and misspellings of these as well. Some credit reporting agencies will be glad to delete the inaccurate entries, as long as they are not connected to an account on your personal credit report, or they may keep them as a fact of record.
To top off the personal information found on your credit report, you may also find your Social Security Number, your date of birth, and any past or present employers.
Potentially Negative Items
The potentially negative items listed in your credit report are things that will usually make a potential creditor take a hard look at your credit file before offering you a loan or credit card. These can include credit items or public records.
Credit Items
These are credit accounts on your credit report that have negatives associated with them. It is important to point out that an account can be listed in this section of your personal credit report even if it is a current, up-to-date account. This can happen when you have previously been 30+ days late on the account, within the last seven years, and then you brought it current again. Charge-offs and collection accounts will also be listed in this section of your credit report.
Public Records
Public records listed on your credit report are usually bankruptcy filings and any judgments that have been entered against you. Judgments usually happen when a creditor or collection agency takes you to court over a delinquent debt and wins.
Accounts in Good Standing
The accounts listed in this section of your credit report are those that you have not been late on in the past seven years. They can consist of both open and closed accounts. Closed accounts in good standing may fall off of your credit report after 10 years.
Requests for Your Credit History
The entries, otherwise known as inquiries, listed in this section of your credit report are entries from when someone has requested or pulled your credit report. There are two specific types of entries.
Requests viewed by others
These are referred to as hard inquiries. They are inquiries that are either made by potential creditors pulling your personal credit report because you have applied for credit or by another company, who holds an account that belongs to you, pulling your personal credit report. There are other instances, such as when you apply for a bank account, where you may inadvertently give a creditor permission to pull a hard inquiry on your personal credit report. Anyone who pulls your credit report can see these inquiries.
Requests viewed only by you
These are referred to as soft inquires. They are inquires on your credit report made by you or anyone else who does not have your permission or does not hold an account that belongs to you. These are often marketing inquiries where potential creditors have pulled your personal credit report in an attempt to pre-approve you for a credit offer. No one, except you, who pulls your personal credit report can see these inquiries.
This guide to your personal credit report should help know what to expect the next time you pull your own reports. It should also make it easier for you to scan your credit report for any inaccuracies or unauthorized inquiries. |
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