What you will see in a credit report

Here is a list of what you will see on a credit report:

• Accounts/Trade lines:  This includes credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, real estate, installment loans and revolving debt like department store cards. The report will include information on the accounts such as the balance, payment history, terms, and account status – such as whether the account was put into bankruptcy, charged off, or repossessed.
• Collection Accounts: Collections are accounts that are seriously past due and have been transferred to a collection agency or creditor’s internal collection department. Collections can appear to be paid and unpaid (and, yes this makes a difference when disputing.  Any type of collection whether it is paid or unpaid it is extremely negative.)

You may also encounter multiple listings on credit reports for the same debt. This happens as the debt collection agencies sell the debt to other agencies. As debt is transferred between different agencies, there may be several records on the credit report for the same debt. Only one record should be marked as open at a time on the credit report. You should always dispute multiple items listing of the same account.

• Public Records: The public information section of the credit report includes publicly available information about legal matters affecting your client’s credit. This could include judgments in civil actions, state or federal tax liens and bankruptcies. All court records, including satisfactions, are considered EXTREMELY negative by all credit grantors.

Because some public record information is accessible only by visiting courthouses and other government buildings in person, the credit bureaus have to send people to the courthouse to gather the records to properly investigate. Do you think the Credit Reporting Agencies “Properly Investigate”?

• Inquiries: Every time credit is applied for, a credit report is pulled. The inquiry section of a credit report includes records of businesses that have checked the consumer’s credit in the last two years. When creditors and lenders review clients’ credit data for the purpose of an application, a hard inquiry is listed on the credit report.

Too many hard inquiries can harm a credit score. Statistically, consumers that have had an abnormal amount of inquiries, have had an increased average overall delinquency rate. In fact, the belief that people, who apply for too much credit, are usually not financially responsible has been substantiated with factual data.

The factual data is then utilized to reduce risk for creditors in the future. It’s like putting up a flare or warning sign “Credit at Risk”… etc…. Instant decreases in credit scores will happen with abnormal amounts of inquires/applications for new credit!