A Look at Your Credit Report
Filed under Credit Report, Featured, Identity Theft
Your credit report reveals a surprising amount of information including:
- Your name, address, SSN, and employment information.
- What credit accounts have been opened in your name, and the current status of those accounts—whether they are active or closed, for instance.
- The balance on each account, how much your monthly payments are, and whether or not you make those payments on time.
- What other companies have ordered your credit report in the past. These prior requests are called “inquiries.”
- Your credit score, which determines your “creditworthiness.” Your score is based on such things as whether you make payments promptly, how much credit you already have, and how long you’ve had various accounts. Creditors look at your credit score as a way to predict whether you will be able to pay your bills on time.
How do they know so much?
Some of this information, your name and address, for instance, comes from public records. The majority of it, however, is reported to the credit bureaus by banks and other businesses that have issued you credit. These companies report to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis, telling them what your balance is and whether you’ve been keeping up your payments.
Creditors also let the credit bureaus know when you—or an identity thief using your information—open up a new credit account. So even if there are no other clues that your identity has been stolen, your credit report can tell you if someone has been obtaining credit in your name.
When you apply for any kind of credit—a car loan, let’s say—the bank checks you out by ordering your credit report. Based on your credit history and score, the bank decides whether or not to approve your loan application. If an identity thief has been using your identity to open bogus accounts, those actions will show up on your credit report and negatively affect your credit score. (And guess what? Identity thieves don’t tend to pay their bills on time…or at all. Big surprise.)
The result? The bank won’t exactly be eager to lend you money. Now don’t you want to know what’s on that report?
