What Financial Information Can You Find On Your Credit Report?

A guide to understanding what financial information is on your credit report.

One of the most important pieces of financial information you need to understand is your credit report. Knowing what’s on your credit report is crucial even if you are debt free. Going through your credit report can be confusing and a bit overwhelming, especially if you are looking to see if there are errors or potential fraud that has occurred.

You should review your credit report at least once a year. Here is a guide explaining how to read a credit report and to be confident all your information is correct.

What Is A Credit Report And Why Is It Important?

A credit report is a complete summary and history of your credit activity and the current status of your credit, and a record of loans you have taken. Often, people have more than one credit report.

A credit report is important because credit bureaus and consumer reporting agencies gather and store your financial data submitted by credit card companies, lenders, and other financial companies. A credit report is helpful to lenders because they use the reports to decide whether or not they will loan you money and the interest rate they will offer you.

Lenders will use your credit report to see if you are continually meeting the terms of any existing credit accounts. Creditors and lenders are not the only ones to read your credit report. Businesses such as insurance companies, cell phone service providers, utility, cable tv, apartment complexes, and landlords for renting a house check credit reports. Some employers may also request to look at your credit report to decide between hiring you.

The Information On Your Credit Report

A credit report has information sections such as personal information(PII), personal statements, credit accounts, credit inquiries, public records, adverse and satisfactory accounts, and collections reports.

Personal Identifiable Information (PII)

• Your full name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Employment history

When reviewing your PII, you should check that the spelling of your name is correct. Your address is current, and your social security digits are accurate. If you find this information incorrect, you need to dispute it with the credit bureau with the wrong PII information about you.

Personal Statements

This section is for items such as a fraud alert, security freeze, or power of attorney comments. You must review this section thoroughly to ensure all your personal statements are correct.

Credit Accounts

Every lender reports each account you have with them. The report includes information such as:

• Credit card
• Auto loan
• Mortgage
• Date the account opened
• Credit limit
• Loan amount
• Payment history – On-time or late payments
• Account balance

Credit account information is a large part of calculating your FICO scores. When looking at your credit accounts, check to see if everything matches your records and if missed payments are from the correct account number.

Contact the credit bureau or creditor that displays this report if anything appears to be incorrect.

Credit Inquiries

Every time you apply for a loan, you give a lender authorization to obtain a copy of your credit report. A credit report’s inquiries section lists those who have permission to look at your credit report for the past two years.

A hard inquiry is when a lender does a credit check before approving a car loan, mortgage, or credit card application. A soft inquiry is primarily an offer from a lender, such as a pre-approved credit card, or when you check your credit history yourself. You should review your credit inquiries to ensure there isn’t any suspicious activity.

Your credit report contains the creditor who requested the inquiry, their business, and the date of the inquiry. If the creditor or business looks unfamiliar or suspicious, contact the credit bureau and ask how to take necessary action.

Public Records

If you have public records, such as bankruptcy, it’s essential to review everything that is on the report to see if the timing of the bankruptcy is accurate. A chapter 7 bankruptcy remains on a credit report 10 years after filing. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is removed after 7 years from the filing date.

Adverse Accounts

When you have a number of different financial delinquencies, the adverse accounts section on a credit report contains information that has been reported to the credit agency. Adverse accounts information includes:

• Delinquent payments –  History of being behind payments.
• Charge Offs: Debt a company believes will not be collected due to the borrower being so far behind on the payment. 
• Bankruptcy 
• Foreclosures – A debt collector takes possession of an asset to recover unpaid debt.

Satisfactory Accounts

Previous or current accounts in good standing are in this credit report section. Each creditor is on a list to show your account’s high balance, account limit, and current account balance. Also, the list contains a history of how often your payments have been paid on time.

While viewing this section of your credit report, you want to read over each account and confirm that the accounts on the list belong to you and that the amounts are correct. If there are payments listed as late that you have paid or the wrong accounts, this may be a sign of an error or possible fraud going on.

Collections Accounts

Accounts given over to a collection agency, such as credit accounts, bank, mobile phone service providers, cable companies, medical bills, and retail account stores, can be found in the collections accounts section of your credit report. In addition, rent that has not been paid can be on your credit report for up to seven years.

As of July 1,2022, medical debt that was sent to a collection agency but has since been paid off no longer appears on Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports.

What Are Your Credit Report Rights?

According to the Federal Trade Commission, credit report laws protect information collected by consumer reporting agencies such as credit bureaus, medical information companies, and tenant screening services. You have rights when it comes to a credit report.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you must be made aware if anyone has been using your file against you. Suppose anyone uses your credit report to deny your credit, insurance, or employment application or has taken negative action against you. In that case, information such as name, address, phone number, and the agency which gave the information must be provided.

You have the right to know what’s on your credit report, such as:

• Someone has taken adverse action against you because of your credit report
• Victim of identity theft and a fraud alert in your file
• Inaccurate information due to fraud

Conclusion

Understanding and reading your credit reports is essential in maintaining good financial status. Knowing the information on your credit report helps you see where you stand when applying for a loan or credit. According to Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice, through December 31, 2023, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax will offer all U.S. consumers free weekly credit reports through Annual Credit Report.com.