How To Read My Credit Report to Help Repair My Credit
How does my credit report affect my credit score? What is important on a credit report in starting the credit repair process and how some things will affect my score and other things may not.
***** Misinformation - this is obvious mistakes. I remember years ago when I started my own credit repair that I found out that several of my father's and one of my brother's accounts were on my report.
How can this happen??? - well, my first name starts with an "L" and so does my father's and my youngest brother. This was an obvious mistake and the credit repair corrected this rather quickly.
Look for these types of accounts first!
Read on>>>
***** Misinformation - this is obvious mistakes. I remember years ago when I started my own credit repair that I found out that several of my father's and one of my brother's accounts were on my report.
How can this happen??? - well, my first name starts with an "L" and so does my father's and my youngest brother. This was an obvious mistake and the credit repair corrected this rather quickly.
Look for these types of accounts first!
Read on>>>
What determines your credit score- how can you fix your credit ?
Your credit score is determined by the overall history on your credit with each credit agency. The score is calculated a bit differently by each agency.The Credit Reporting Agencies Do Not Talk To Each Other!!!
A low credit score is considered anything below 650 these days and an excellent score is usually above 700. A low score is usually caused by late payments within the last 12 or 24 months, charge offs, old judgements, unpaid medical bills or even to many inquiries.
What Makes Your Credit Score
35% - Payment HistoryNumber of accounts paid, Collections or negative public recored, Delinquest accounts, total number of past due items, how long past due, how long since you made a payment.
30% - Amounts You Owe
How much you owe on accounts and the types of accounts with balances
How much of your credit lines you have used.
Amounts you owe vs. the original balances.
Number of zero account balances.
15% - Length of Your Credit History
Total length of time tracked by your credit report.
Length of time since accounts were opened.
Time passed since the last activity.
10% - Types of Credit Used
Total number of accounts and types of accounts - ie. credit cards, mortgage, car, etc.
(A mixture of accounts usually results in better scores than only numerout credit cards- your credit score can actually go down with too many credit cards)
What Will You See on the Credit Report - 4 Main Categories !
#1 Personal Information
NOTE ! There can be errors or mistakes in any or all of these so read them carefull
Your name (and any variations of it)
For instance: Jon Smith, J Smith, Jonathan Q Smith: Mary Jones, Mary Jane Jones, MJ Jones!
This was how my family members all ended up with accounts on my report. We all had the same last name and the first letter of our first names.
Now, you ask, but how could this happen when we all have different social security numbers = IT JUST DOES! and IT CAN!
Just think if you have a fairly common name like the examples above how many possibities there really are. If you have applied for credit in more than one variation of your name, they will all show as your name. But check the accounts carefully, they may not be your accounts. This a mistake the credit reporting agencies frequently make.
Then your social security number, date of birth, current and previous addresses, current and previous employers. There may be some incorrect or old entries on these but less likely.
Your name (and any variations of it)
For instance: Jon Smith, J Smith, Jonathan Q Smith: Mary Jones, Mary Jane Jones, MJ Jones!
This was how my family members all ended up with accounts on my report. We all had the same last name and the first letter of our first names.
Now, you ask, but how could this happen when we all have different social security numbers = IT JUST DOES! and IT CAN!
Just think if you have a fairly common name like the examples above how many possibities there really are. If you have applied for credit in more than one variation of your name, they will all show as your name. But check the accounts carefully, they may not be your accounts. This a mistake the credit reporting agencies frequently make.
Then your social security number, date of birth, current and previous addresses, current and previous employers. There may be some incorrect or old entries on these but less likely.
#2 Credit Information
Ok, it' all gonna be here - the good, the bad and the ugly!
The specifics of each loan and credit card - when it was opened, your approved balance, how much you've used (or paid back), your current balance, your monthly payments. Each account shows the positive and of course the negative (including all late payments and the dates you were late) from the time you opened the account.
#3 Public Record Information
Read this very carefully!
This category has all the really bad stuff - liens, judgements, tax liens, foreclosures etc. AND SOMETHING IN THERE MAY BE SOMEONE ELSES WHO HAS A SIMILAR NAME!
#4 Inquiries
This is also a "biggie"
The law says only certain people are allowed to pull up your credit report!
Mostly you have to give your permission by applying for something - like a credit card, a loan, an insurance policy. Also, a creditor has the right to pull your credit report any time they want - and they will if you make a late payment.
When you request your free annual credit report this does not show as an inquiry.
Also, there is something called a "soft inquiry" - these are the companies who are looking to sell you something like a new card etc. They don't usually affect your score - but I would go after credit repair on them anyway!
Oh - and no your mother, ex-spouse, or a busy body neighbor cannot access your credit report according to the law!
The specifics of each loan and credit card - when it was opened, your approved balance, how much you've used (or paid back), your current balance, your monthly payments. Each account shows the positive and of course the negative (including all late payments and the dates you were late) from the time you opened the account.
#3 Public Record Information
Read this very carefully!
This category has all the really bad stuff - liens, judgements, tax liens, foreclosures etc. AND SOMETHING IN THERE MAY BE SOMEONE ELSES WHO HAS A SIMILAR NAME!
#4 Inquiries
This is also a "biggie"
The law says only certain people are allowed to pull up your credit report!
Mostly you have to give your permission by applying for something - like a credit card, a loan, an insurance policy. Also, a creditor has the right to pull your credit report any time they want - and they will if you make a late payment.
When you request your free annual credit report this does not show as an inquiry.
Also, there is something called a "soft inquiry" - these are the companies who are looking to sell you something like a new card etc. They don't usually affect your score - but I would go after credit repair on them anyway!
Oh - and no your mother, ex-spouse, or a busy body neighbor cannot access your credit report according to the law!
Don't Fight The Small Stuff when doing credit repair !!!
There actually are some things that will not improve or make any difference in your report or your credit score!
If you have lived at the same address for more than 2 years then any old address don't really matter any more. The lenders are looking for a stable borrower so only repair mistakes on old addresses if you need a 2-3 year history.
The employers is a little trickier but may not make a difference either. The only ones that really count are your last 2-3 year history. If there are any employers on a report that are older than than I would be somewhat suprised. The credit agencies usually only get this information once when you change jobs, but don't always bother to update it.
If you have lived at the same address for more than 2 years then any old address don't really matter any more. The lenders are looking for a stable borrower so only repair mistakes on old addresses if you need a 2-3 year history.
The employers is a little trickier but may not make a difference either. The only ones that really count are your last 2-3 year history. If there are any employers on a report that are older than than I would be somewhat suprised. The credit agencies usually only get this information once when you change jobs, but don't always bother to update it.
Here Is Where You Want To Get Serious About Credit Repair!
After you have gone through your report with a highlighter you need to put together a plan of action!
Make several copies of the pages that have errors on them or late payments you want to work on. You will need to include a copy of that page with the highlighted information along with a letter to each reporting agency.
Then you need to keep track of the responses - don't forget the 30 day rule!
I remember when I had to do this I almost dropped the ball several times because I forget to keep track. This is where a good software tracking system can save you a lot of headache. I wish I had been able to use one those many years ago.
Do It The Easy Way! Get A System!
Make several copies of the pages that have errors on them or late payments you want to work on. You will need to include a copy of that page with the highlighted information along with a letter to each reporting agency.
Then you need to keep track of the responses - don't forget the 30 day rule!
I remember when I had to do this I almost dropped the ball several times because I forget to keep track. This is where a good software tracking system can save you a lot of headache. I wish I had been able to use one those many years ago.
Do It The Easy Way! Get A System!
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CreditMistress
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