Credit reports are proof of your personal profile, credit history, public record information financial reliability and stability. Credit reports contain information about your credit card accounts, loans, charge accounts, and items of public record such as bankruptcies, tax liens, and court judgments.
Your credit reports are maintained by credit reporting agencies, also known as credit bureaus and provided to lenders, employers, insurance companies, landlords and other companies who have a legitimate need for this information, based on the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the federal law that governs credit bureaus.
Generally a credit report contains various important factors which are mentioned below:
Personal Profile: includes basic information such as your full name, current and previous addresses and employers, social security number, and date of birth.
Credit History: includes current active, past closed accounts and their balances or arrears, real estate mortgages, credit cards, car loans or medical bills.
Public Records: includes reports obtained from local, state and federal court which indicates records of bankruptcies, tax liens and monetary judgments.
Inquiry Section: This section reveals any parties that have obtained a copy of your credit report over the last two years.
Credit Score: calculating an individual's credit risk to determine his capability to pay back the loan.
Disputes: if any error is there in report you can contact to credit bureau.
The purpose of the commercial credit report in Australia is to share information and to determine the corporate backgrounds, shareholders, financial data, operations and mercantile backgrounds including any adverse data that may impact on the subject receiving credit facilities.
These reports are provided globally as per the requirement of credit grantors and are extremely beneficial in learning more about the potential customer, and determining of credit will be granted and if so, how much.
Credit reports also help in assessing the risk of dealing with a particular client. You can obtain a credit report at a nominal fee or free of cost but it varies country to country.
The question is often asked as to whether everyone can obtain access to credit reports, and in the case of commercial reports (those on companies and businesses) the answer is yes, however in the case of individuals a legitimate business motive should be there, and will only be provided to credit grantors, employers or prospective employers, landlords, and insurance underwriters.
The subjects of individual reports (often referred to as consumer reports) are also protected under the Federal Privacy Act, and can request a copy if their own credit report from a bureau, and may dispute any inaccurate information and have their record amended.
Once a person learns to read and understand a credit report, they are moving towards a more secure financial future, knowing what is out in the marketplace about them, and also using credit reports themselves in any business dealings to avoid granting credit to those who are considered high risks. Article keywords: