What Lenders Look at on Your Credit Report: Everything You Need to Know

Your credit report is an important document that lenders, landlords, and employers may use to decide your application. But what do they look at on this document? This article will explain the different parts of a credit report and how they affect you.

The sections are:

• Personal information
• Credit history
• Creditors and collections agencies
• Public record information
• Inquiries made by lenders or creditors

Personal Information

This section shows your first name, last name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license number, or state ID card number. The personal information section can also include other identifying numbers, including passport numbers for those born outside the United States.

Credit history

This shows the number of times you were late on a loan or credit card payment or the amount of debt you owe. It also shows if you are paying off your debts with one or several ongoing payments each month. You may find this section helpful to see if someone else has an outstanding debt against your name.

Collection agencies

This section shows any collections actions taken by creditors against your name, including scammers who try to make money from innocent people using your credit card account numbers and other personal information. Usually, these collection services are for legitimate companies. However, the information is still helpful for checking if a company is reputable before making a financial transaction.

Public record information

This section shows any court judgments you may have against you or records of bankruptcies filed by yourself or your business. It also includes any judgments against you for the return of lost or stolen property. These records can be very useful in spotting legitimate debt collectors from scammers who try to trick people into paying money they don't owe.

Lender inquiries

This section explains how lenders, credit card companies, and other financial institutions check your credit report before approving loans, credit cards, and tenancy agreements. If a lender calls a credit reporting agency to check on your debt situation, it will show up here in this section.

It lists the lender's name and a short report of the inquiry. The inquiry will show up regardless of whether the lender has obtained your permission. There are two types of inquiries: those made by lenders or creditors and those made by collection agencies or other debt collectors. You are probably unaware that you were even asked to provide information when an approving lender wants to check your credit report. Still, it can be helpful to know that they are checking and how they could get this information.

Abuse reporting agencies

This section shows any requests for a credit report from fraud protection services, suicide prevention hotlines, or other organizations investigating fraud against consumers (such as identity theft). The organization's name will show up here, along with a report showing how many times they have requested a credit report on you.

Inquiries made by other lenders

If a lender, creditor, or employer has sought information on your credit report without your permission, this section contains that information. This section also shows if you are being sued for the return of debt. Inquiries by Lenders or Creditors can be used while applying for a loan or other financial transaction to show if you have any outstanding debts from past loans or payments. It is called Inquiries by Collection Agencies or Other Collection Services because it can be used to check if a debt collector has tried to contact you.

If you are being sued for the return of a debt, a creditor may file a Notice of Claim form with the court record stating that they have sued you to recover a debt they allege they are owed. The Notice of Claim would show up in this section if filed against your name. Lenders, creditors, and collection agencies cannot sue you and force you to pay the money back even if they believe the debt is valid. They can only ask the court to require you to pay a judgment that was made against you in their favor, not force payment on a legitimate debt.

It is important to remember that it is still within your rights to reject a debt collection lawsuit even if you are being sued by the court. You have the right to decline a court judgment against you and do not have to pay the debt back if it was not in the contract's original terms. Before agreeing to any legal agreements regarding creditors or lawsuits involving debts, you should consider contacting an attorney.

If you are being sued, contact a lawyer or another legal representative who can help protect your rights as a consumer and advise you on how best to defend yourself against creditors who try (and usually fail) to force unfair agreements onto consumers who cannot afford to pay their debts back.

Once you have read your credit report and know how to read it, you may want to share them with others who will be able to help protect your identity and personal information. This section contains all the information needed to open a credit account in someone else's name. You can look up someone else's record by entering their name, date of birth, and social security number.

If you find that someone else is using your name to open credit accounts because they stole your identity, that person may also have signed up for health and/or life insurance under your name. If you doubt the debt report on a credit account, contact a lawyer to check if the creditor has permission to check you out for a loan, credit card, or another account without your permission.