Credit Reports & Scores

 What is a credit report?

A credit report is a record of all your credit activities. It contains all the detailed information about each of the credit accounts a person holds or has held. Each of these entries is referred to as a trade-line. On each trade-line it will list account information and creditor contact information, the date the account was opened, the original balance, the existing balance, the credit limit, the monthly payment amount and the payment history. In addition to the trade-lines the credit report will often include: any public records information such as tax liens, judgments or bankruptcies, identification information including social security number, address, date of birth, employer and variations on any of that personal information.

 What is a credit score?

Credit scores are given by the three credit reporting agencies Equifax, Transunion and Experian. The number that each agency assigns is based on a statistical analysis of what is contained in your credit report.

 What affects a credit score?

The major factors affecting a credit score are late payments or delinquent accounts bankruptcies, collections, liens, judgments, an excessive balance to credit limit ratio on revolving accounts, too many accounts or inquiries, the length of time the accounts have been open, and insufficient length of credit history.

 What can I do to maintain good credit?

• Know what’s on your credit report. You can order a free copy of your credit report annually at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228. The free report won’t give you a score but it will show the tradelines on the report which you can check for accuracy.
• Pay your bills on time.
• Keep the balances on your revolving accounts low or don’t carry a balance at all.
• Use the credit you have but don’t abuse it.

 For additional information regarding credit and scoring visit www.ftc.gov.