Credit reports are, quite simply, electronic records of your credit activities. These activities can range from borrowing money to buy a car to applying for a loan or credit card or missing payments on loans you have taken. The report is generated so that potential lenders can see how you use credit and how much of it you have available.

According to Trans Union, one of the major credit bureaus, there are four major areas of content in credit reports :
1.) Identifying information, including your name, phone number, address, Social Security number and date of birth;
2.) Credit history, including payment history, including any late payments, to banks, credit card companies, retailers and other lenders;
3.) Public records, including bankruptcy filings or liens.

The fourth item is inquiries about your credit, which occur when you apply for a loan or credit card. A credit report also shows any current credit that you have. This includes amounts owed, amounts available, like on a credit card or other form of revolving credit and payment amounts on installment loans.

Do you know what is on your credit report? You can find out by visiting www.credit-report-credit-score.com and requesting your free copy.

Whether a lender is evaluating your loan request or a card company is considering whether to give you a credit card, you can be sure that the information on your credit report will influence its decision. Unfortunately, some of us mismanage credit and pay the price. We get negative information remains on a credit report that hurts our chances of getting additional credit for years. That is why it is so important to periodically check your credit report for accuracy.

-------------------------
Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the authors bio paragraph at the bottom of this article is included, the article is published as is (unedited) and all URLs are made active hyperlinks with no syntax changes.
-------------------------