Tips To Reading Your Credit Report

Tips To Reading Your Credit Report.

Have you ever read your credit report? If so during the last time your credit report was in front of you did you not understand anything you were looking at? Too many people buy monthly subscriptions for their credit report when they don't even know how to read it, for example, when a person gets their credit report and sees a bunch of numbers and inquiries on it then that should make them wonder. Whether or not you were the one who got all those inquiries or not you should still wonder about them.

In this article I want to show you exactly how you can read your credit report the way a banker, insurance agent, potential employer, and even a mortgage lender will read it.

The first thing you should notice about your credit report is your name and birth date at the top someplace. This should be on every credit report and if it isn't they you should not accept that as proof of your credit. Many people get the wrong credit reports because all that needs to happen is switch in a couple numbers in your social security number and the mix up of addresses and there you go, you have somebody else's credit report. Take it from someone who knows, it can happen.

Tips to read your credit report:

See who inquired about your credit

This is perhaps the most important part of your credit report in my opinion and the reason is because in order for anybody to run a credit check they need your consent. At any time you see a discrepancy in your credit report you need to highlight it and make note that it needs to be changed. Don't be too easy when you read your credit report when you see that there is something wrong and someone has ran your credit report without your consent. If this is the case let the credit bureaus know about it and they should send you a letter of the result when finished.

The 3 credit scores mean something

When you get a full credit report there should be 3 numbers that come along with it, those three numbers are the credit scores that the major 3 credit bureaus gave you and them mean a lot. Whenever you want to get a house, car, or anything too expensive lenders will look at the scores you get and average them out and that is how they determine if you are a liable risk or not. Remember, scores matter.

Note Mistakes

Many companies are way too busy with their own stuff to worry about whether they got your credit report right or not; it is up to you to fix the problem if there is one. What I have noticed many times are where companies will not send it the final notice that my accounts have been paid off or that there was a limit increase, all the do is report bad things.

If you have a mistake you must report it because it will help your credit a lot. If you can look for these 3 things the next time you are looking at your credit report I guarantee you that you will be much better off financially.