Personal Credit Report

Your personal credit report is truly a gold mine of details about you. It has your date of birth, telephone numbers, Social Security number, residence and employment histories, credit payment behavior as well as your legal information. Checking your credit information carefully and familiarizing yourself with all your rights on credit reporting are among the best ways to protect your privacy.

A consumer like you usually has three credit accounts and they are not the same. One of your records may contain information that the other two reports do not. It happens because your creditors and lenders may forward your information to only one or two of the major credit agencies who separately reports data. By monitoring your credit account from the "big three" credit bureaus, you can avoid delays on paying your debts, thus improving your credit score. Moreover, it can also help you stay away from identity theft and fraud.

At times, your credit record may contain information that is incorrect and these can affect your eligibility to make a loan. To be able to check your credit report well, it is important that you know the various sections comprising it and what each section contains.

Parts of a Personal Credit Report

• Consumer Information - this is the part that contains your name, birth date, current and previous address, and employer.

• Credit information - this is a very significant portion of your report since it holds complete information regarding your revolving collection or credit accounts, real estate mortgages and other financial transactions. Every record has the date and the place where the account is opened, the high balance, the terms as well as your payment history.

• Credit Inquiries - your report has a list of individuals or entities that have accessed or have received a copy of your credit history in the last two years.

• Consumer statement - this is the part where you can put a short message such as an explanation for late payments or a fraud alert that happened during a certain period.

• Public Records - this part encloses details of declared bankruptcy, judgment filings and tax liens

• Creditor's Contact Information - this final part of your credit record has the phone numbers and mailing addresses of your creditors which you can use in case you need to get in touch with them.