What is a Credit Report?
The
Public Record such as, electoral roll information, bankruptcies, court
judgments, and individual voluntary arrangements and the information
provided by lenders and financial institutions such as, credit accounts,
financial associations and credit applications are the two main resources, which the credit reference agencies
use for compiling your credit report.
Your car dealer and finance company, when you apply for a
loan or lease, will request a credit history report and credit score from one
of the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and
TransUnion.
Details all your past and present credit card accounts,
mortgages, loans, car loans, and leases can be found on your credit report. It also
reveals whether or not you've missed payments, made late payments, to whom, how
often, and by how much, and also about bankruptcies and repossessions.
It also shows
credit limits, shows that balances on all outstanding accounts, and shows how
many inquiries have been made recently by lenders.
Credit Score
Car dealers and finance companies also ask for your FICO
Score, which is a single number that summarizes your entire credit history as they don't have time to read through
credit histories in detail.
Credit score is a measure of your credit worthiness and it can
range from 300 to 850. A good credit score is typically any number over 720
while a score of fewer than 600 points is considered poor credit.
The national
average credit score is 678, only 13% of the nation's population has scores
above 800 and on other hand, roughly 15% of the population has a credit score
lower than 550.
It's essential to know your credit history and credit score,
particularly if you have bad credit. Mostly, the reason behind the bad credit
is simple mistake on your credit reports or a couple of missed payments that
can be easily explained. How ever, a bad credit report can be repaired.
Fair Issac Corp is the best source of credit history reports
and scores. It is the company that is behind the scores from all three credit
reporting companies.
Your credit score from each agency is different, sometimes
by a substantial amount because each credit reporting agency has slightly
different data.
You can instantly determine if one of the agencies has
errors in their data about you by getting all three scores. Be sure to get your
credit score along with your credit history as the credit score is not
automatically provided.
Car dealers and their associated finance companies are not
your only source of loans and leases. It's very important for bad credit people
to shop for the best rates on your own at banks, credit unions, and online loan
companies.
In order to explain your credit situation face-to-face with a real
person try to make a personal visit to your potential loan sources. This goes a
long way and improves your chances of being successful.
You can repair your credit report on your own if you know
you have mistakes in your credit report. Credit repair takes time, so get
started early.
Pay your bills on time, don't take out new accounts, pay down
credit card debts, and keep new inquiries to a minimum. You can maximize your
score, and reduce your financing costs with these steps.
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