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Credit Reports: How to Read Them

Everyone should have some basic knowledge on how to read their credit reports and what all those numbers mean. There are so many people out there today who have no idea what their credit score is, and an additional number of people who know nothing about credit reports at all. Here are a few basics that everyone should know when trying to read a credit report.

The first thing you need to be aware of is if your credit report is pulled by someone else other than yourself, this will result in a credit inquiry on your report, which will also affect your credit score. You will not be notified of this at all. The inquiry counts as a penalty and will make a small difference on your score.

When you look at the top of a credit report, you will see the words "Prepared For" as well as "Attention." Prepared For will tell you what lender the credit report was actually made up for (who pulled the report), while the Attention blank will give you the actual name of a person and not just the company. Usually the Purpose of the Loan is also shown; and the Report Type will explain whether the credit report is for an individual or for a joint partnership.

Other sections that will be included on your credit report will be: Mortgage/Landlord Verification, Credit Summary (this can be the scary section), Vendor Errors (located right under the Credit Summary so you don't look completely incompetent, often times, depending on the section, they do), and Scoring. There is sometimes a reason that is labeled as to why the score is what it is, but not always. There is no rhyme or reason for these reports; the entire field is clearly not rocket science.

The Vendor Information works on a number score basis, and these scores will be listed. A 0 will mean that the account is too new to rate for that vendor, a 1 will mean that you paid them, 2-6 will tell how many days you have been blowing the vendor off (for instance 5 means 120 days past due), 7 shows that you are bankrupt, 8 means that they had to come to your home and take away your things (repossession), and 9 means that you have bad debt issues. If you get an X that means that they don't have any information on you - yet. If you see an N this will mean that you have a zero balance. Make sure that you have provided the right calming essentials when reading this part of the report because a number 2-9 could give you a really bad day, or headache, take your pick.

Delving into your credit report can be a very confusing and frustrating experience, and it can be twice as upsetting if you have bad credit to begin with. Take your time and try to understand what you're reading, it would be worth your while to figure it all out. If you can take the time to integrate these few basic steps you may find yourself coming out ahead of everyone else.