How to Read Credit Bureau Reports

Credit bureau reports contain very important information about your financial health. They include your financial status including credit cards, large transactions, mortgages, vehicle loans, defaults , late payment etc. Everyone is entitled for free annual credit reports from all the three credit bureaus. It is important to know how to read and understand credit bureau reports to make sure your financial records are correct and your identity is not stolen or misused by anyone. The following steps describe how to read and make sense out of what is in your credit report.

Instructions

1. Verify personal information. The first section in the credit bureau report contains your name, social security number, date of birth, current and previous address etc. Many times, there could be spelling errors in this information. Check the information in this section of the credit report. Compare them across reports from different credit bureaus. Contact the reporting agency if there are discrepancies.

2. Check the credit history. The second section in the credit bureau reports contain your credit accounts and transaction details.This will include mortgage or any other loans, loan types, credit cards or any store cards etc. This section of the credit report will also tell you when the accounts were opened, maximum credit limit and so on.

3. Check the public record section. The third section in the credit bureau report includes bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments etc. Everyone should see this section as blank in their credit report. If your credit report has entries in this section, that reflects very negative status of your financial status.

4. Look at the inquiries. The last section in the credit report lists all the inquiries made on your credit status.There are two types of inquiries, soft pull and hard pull. Soft pull is recorded when anyone looks at your credit history to send promotional credit offers. Hard pulls are recorded in the credit report when the credit checked for real financial transactions such as new loans, accounts etc. You will see a large list of inquiries.