remove your credit card debt

What Is A Credit Report?
By Peter Lenkefi, Thu Dec 8th

This article is a concise, informative tell-all explaining whatexactly a credit report is, and what that means to you. It willNOT inform you where to get a cheap, or free, credit report.Rather, this article will explain what types of credit reportsare available, and why they are used.

A credit report is a retelling of your credit payment history.It can be provided to companies by one of the four creditbureaus in the U.S. as designated by law. Usually, thisinformation is only shared when credit is being extended,although this is not always the case.

A credit report is used to tell a potential creditor about yourability to repay your debts, based on past experiences. Allcredit reports are hosted in databases housed by the creditbureaus.

If you are one of the 210 million people in the U.S who has astudent loan, credit card, mortgage or another type of loan,then you probably have a credit file, somewhere. The informationgathered to create your credit file is garnered from thecompanies with which you have credit extended to you. Also, thegovernment or legal system may provide information as well.

Whenever you apply for more credit, a credit report is usuallycreated which contains all of this information from one of thefour credit bureaus in the U.S. (Innovex, Experian, Equifax andTransUnion). There are quite a few other, smaller credit bureausaround the states; however, most credit granting agencies willonly look at information from one of the big four.

There are several different kinds of credit reports that anagency can request about you:

- Consumer

Credit Reports (what we have discussed most of thisarticle already); - Property Manager Credit Reports: Thesereports are used by landlords to determine your credit historywith regards to your rental payments, and are essentially thesame report as the consumer credit report. - Business CreditReports: These reports are used by credit agencies to determineif a business is credit worthy. Information gathered can includecompany background, number of employees, estimated yearly sales,public records, payment trends and how the company compares toothers in the same industry. - Employer Credit Reports: Thesereports are similar to the consumer credit reports, but are usedin addition, and include such information as employment history,education, criminal records checks, and motor vehicleregistration and history. - Mortgage Broker Credit Reports:These credit reports are quite different than the others, asthey bring together information from more than one database at atime. These are used to determine if a client is a good creditgranting risk for a mortgage, and can include information suchas your name, living situation, and employment and educationalhistory.

Credit bureaus collect information about the people who havecredit, and then maintain that information for any reports asdiscussed above. Although credit bureaus are not affiliated withthe government, they are strictly regulated to protect theprivacy of credit issuers, granters and consumers.

About the author:For more more information about credit reports please visithttp://www.moneytipsdaily.com/Money-Tips/Keep-Your-Credit-History-Clean-Remove-A-Negative-Credit-Record-From-Credit-Report.html

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