What Should I Look For On My Credit Report?

One of the easiest ways to learn about your financial history is to take a look at your credit report.

Your credit report is what banks and businesses use to determine whether or not you are a reliable borrower and to determine your interest rate. When was the last time you got your eyes on your own credit report?

Looking at your credit report is important and will help you understand your own finances as well as give you an opportunity to check if anything is incorrect or misreported. If you are looking at making a big financial move in the near future it is even more important.

You can grab a free copy of your credit report every year from the FTC at annualcreditreport.com. Once you have it there are a few things you are going to want to look at to check for errors and learn more about your own financial history.

Check Your Personal Information

The first thing you should look over is your personal and account information and check for errors. The report will have your information as well as a list of all of the accounts you currently have open or that have been active within the last 7 years. If there are any accounts that have been opened in your name you will find them on your credit report.

This is a great way to see your account activity as well as see any illicit accounts that have been opened without your knowledge.

Look Over Your Inquiries

If you have ever applied for a loan or credit card there will be a record of that inquiry on your credit report. This is a great way to take a look at how often you are applying for cards or loans. Applying for too many cards or loans can negatively affect your credit score so having an idea of how often you do these things is important in changing behavior and increasing your score.

Make Sure Everything Is Correct

Mistakes can be anywhere on your credit report and can be as small as a misspelling or as large as a charge or account.

A good spot to investigate is your payment history. Check and make sure there aren’t any payments marked late that were made on time. This kind of error can decrease your credit score but can easily be remedied if there is proof it was paid on time.

Also look out for any debt that has been accidentally documented more than once as well as any accounts opened in your name that you do not remember opening.

Fixing your credit can be as simple as making a call! We're here to help you rebuild and understand your credit. Give us a call to get started or learn more about what we can do for you 1-800-431-0449.