I recently had a discussion with a friend about their credit report, and just credit in general, which prompted me to write several posts regarding our conversation.
The question: What information is in my credit file?
The answer is that credit profiles have four main components.
- Personal information. This includes your name, address, former address, your date of birth, and most importantly your social security number.
- Account information. This sections contains your credit accounts and loans. It includes the dates they were opened, payment status (on-time or late), how much you owe and your limit. It also includes if the account is your own or if it is shared with someone else and how (joint account or co-signer), and the account status (paid as agreed, any late payments, if it has been turned over to collections, or turned into a charge-off).
- Public information. This section of the credit report contains tax liens, judgments, and bankruptcies.
- And finally…Inquiries. Who has requested a report on you as a result of you attempting to gain credit or open a new account. Inquiries can stay on your credit report for up to two (2) years however, they can remain longer if you don’t request the old ones be removed.
There is information that cannot be reported in your credit file. Examples are your race and religion. Your income is also not reported in your credit file which surprises some people. The credit scoring model doesn’t care if you are making six figures or if you live paycheck to paycheck.
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