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Credit Report Basics
Your credit report is an electronic record of your credit activities. These activities range from borrowing to
buy a car or a home to applying for a loan or credit card. That's right -- every time you apply for a credit card
or other loan, it registers as an inquiry on your credit report.
More importantly, a credit report is a record of how you use credit and how much of it you have available. If
you're late in making a monthly payment, that too shows up on your credit report.
Whether a lender is evaluating your loan request or a card company is considering whether to give you a
credit card, you can count on an evaluation of your credit report to influence its decision.
Unfortunately, some of us mismanage credit and pay the price: Information remains on a credit report for
years and may hurt the chance of getting additional credit. Sometimes, credit reports omit steps that
borrowers have taken to improve their credit, or contain errors.
In this section of the Web site, we take a look at how to manage your credit -- how to apply for it, how to use
it wisely and how to monitor your credit report for accuracy. We help you to understand your credit rights and
how to repair your credit.
Along the way, we provide some useful links to tools, or calculators, to help you budget, calculate card
payments and evaluate the trade-offs in paying down card debt or saving. Here's one of them:
When to Get a Credit Report
Before you apply for a credit card or loan, you should review a copy of your credit report from each of the
three major bureaus to avoid any surprises. That way you can correct inaccuracies, remove old information
and improve your credit record before you apply for credit.
As mentioned above, a copy of your credit report from each credit reporting agency generally costs $10-$15.
Some financial experts suggest you review your credit at least once a year. That means you can review all
three major credit reports for less than $50.
If you are denied credit, you will certainly want to take a closer look at your credit report to spot any errors or
see if there are any omissions.
Remember that if you are denied credit for reasons based on the content of your credit report, you have the
right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to receive a free credit report from the issuing credit bureau within
60 days of receiving a credit-denial notice.
Credit Repair Help
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