Your credit report is one of the most important financial documents concerning whether or not you will be able to get loans and how much interest you will have to pay on those loans. Understanding your credit report is therefore very important.
One of the first things to understand about your credit report is that it is not the same as your credit score. These are two different things altogether. Your credit score is determined by the information on your credit report, which is why it is so important that consumers keep track of the information that is on their report and correct any mistakes as quickly as possible.
The second thing to understand about your credit report is that it is not a single report. In fact, it is three reports. These are kept by the three big reporting agencies: TRW, Trans Union, and Equifax. Each of these agencies maintains about 170 million credit files on individuals based on 2 billion items of information.
You are allowed by law to request one copy of your report from each agency each year. You can do this online or by mail. It is a good idea to check your reports annually. Of prime importance when checking your reports is your...