Credit Reports Demystified

Credit reports are complex and baffling documents for most people. Once you understand what they contain, though, credit reports become much less intimidating. Here is our Credit Report Rebuilder guide to understanding your credit report.

What's in It

Before you apply for Credit Report Rebuilder, you'll want to have a basic understanding of what information your credit report contains. Credit reports contain four types of information:

Personal identifying information. Your credit report will contain your name, current and prior addresses, phone number, social security number, current and past employers, and date of birth. Credit Report Rebuilder often finds benign errors in this category, such as misspelled names or incorrect contact information.

Information of public record. This is legal information about you, such as judgments issued against you for a collections account, overdue child support (in some states), bankruptcies, and tax liens.
Requests to view your credit history. This is a list of all the parties that have requested access to your credit recently, such as lenders, credit card companies, or insurers.
Credit information. Credit Report Rebuilder commonly finds the most errors in this section. This category contains account information, such as the account's age, balance, monthly payment, and payment history. Credit information will also specify if anyone else is responsible for payment on your accounts (e.g., a co-signer).

Who Provides It

Some people have the mistaken notion that credit reports are maintained by the government or large banks, but this is untrue. Credit reports are maintained by three independent companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These companies maintain records of your financial behavior and allow lenders to view them for a fee. It is these bureaus to whom Credit Report Rebuilder directs your disputes. By law, each of these bureaus must grant you one free credit report per year. If you haven't already taken advantage of this offer, Credit Report Rebuilder can help you secure your free credit reports upon signing up for service.

Find out about the importance of your credit report.