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Credit Report: What is in it and what does it say about your credit?
Credit reports contain information about where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy.
Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) retain your personal information and provide it to companies you apply for credit with. A credit bureau is the most common type of CRA. Consumer report is the information CRAs sell about you to creditors, employers, insurers, and other businesses.
Credit reports contain several categories of information:
Identification and employment information
Your name, date of birth, Social Security number, employer, and spouse’s names
Employment history, home ownership, income, and previous addresses may be provided by CRA if requested.
Payment history
Your accounts with different creditors – show how much credit has been extended and whether you’ve paid on time.
Related events (i.e. referral of an overdue account to a collection agency)
Inquiries
A record of all creditors who asked for your credit history within the past year
A record of all persons or businesses requesting your credit history for employment purposes for the past two years.
Public record information
Bankruptcies, foreclosures, tax liens
You can obtain a copy of your credit report by contacting the three major credit bureaus:
Account payment information on specific types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, mortgage, etc.)
Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgments, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)
Severity of delinquency (how long past due)
Amount past due on delinquent accounts or collection items
Time since (recency of) past due items (delinquency), adverse public records (if any), or collection items (if any)
Number of past due items on file
Number of accounts paid as agreed
Levels of Debt (Amounts Owed):
Amount owing on accounts
Amount owing on specific types of accounts
Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
Number of accounts with balances
Proportion of credit lines used (proportion of balances to total credit limits on certain types of revolving accounts)
Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing (proportion of balance to original loan amount on certain types of installment loans)
Length of Credit History:
Time since accounts opened
Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
Time since account activity
Types of Credit Used/ New Credit:
Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account
Number of recent credit inquiries
Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account
Time since credit inquiry(s)
Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems
Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.)
This is what your FICO credit report looks like online
How to Read Your Credit Report
Credit Reporting Agencies use different codes and notations in credit reports. Each reason code CRA use represents a violation. Each violation costs you a certain number of points.
All the reason codes can be divided into 5 categories. Each category contributes a different approximate percentage or weight into the total credit score:
EQUIFAX - BEACON Score Codes
00039 - serious delinquency
00038 - serious delinquency, and derogatory public record or collection filed
00034 - amount owed on delinquent accounts
00033 - proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high
00032 - lack of recent information loan information
00030 - time since most recent account opening is too short
00024 - no recent revolving balances
00023 - number of bank or national revolving accounts with balances
00020 - length of time since derogatory public record or collection is too short
00019 - too few accounts currently paid as agreed
00018 - number of accounts with delinquency
00016 - lack of recent revolving account information
00015 - lack of recent bank revolving information
00014 - length of time accounts have been established
00013 - time since delinquency is too recent or unknown
00012 - length of time revolving accounts have been established
00011 - amount owed on revolving account is too high
00010 - proportion of balances to credit limits is too high on bank revolving or other revolving accounts.
00009 - too many accounts recently opened
00008 - too many inquiries last 12 months
00006 - too many consumer finance company accounts
00005 - too many accounts with balances
00002 - level of delinquency on accounts
00001 - amount owed on accounts is too high
O - beacon not available, no recently reported account information
FA - number of inquiries adversely affected the score, but not significantly
TRANSUNION - EMPIRICA Score Codes
040 - derogatory public record or collection filed
039 - serious delinquency
038 - serious delinquency, and public record or collection filed
030 - time since most recent account opening is too short
029 - no recent bankcard balances
028 - number of established accounts
027 - too few accounts currently paid as agreed
024 - no recent revolving balances
021 - amount past due on accounts
020 - length of time since derogatory public record or collection is too short
018 - number of accounts with delinquency
017 - no recent non-mortgage balance information
016 - lack of recent revolving account information
015 - lack of recent bank revolving information
014 - length of time accounts have been established
013 - time since delinquency is too recent or unknown
012 - length of time revolving accounts have been established
010 - proportion of balances to credit limits is too high on bank revolving or other revolving accounts
009 - too many accounts recently opened
008 - too many inquiries last 12 months
006 - too many consumer finance company accounts
005 - too many accounts with balances
003 - proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high
002 - level of delinquency on accounts
001 - amount owed on accounts too high
- file not scored because subject does not have sufficient credit
FA - in addition to the factors listed above, the number of inquiries on the consumer's credit file has adversely affected the credit score
EXPERIAN - FAIR ISAAC Score Codes
40 - derogatory public record or collection field
39 - serious delinquency
38 - serious delinquency and public record or collection filed
33 - proportion of current loan balance to original loan amount
32 - no recent installment loan information
24 - lack of recently reported balances on revolving/open accounts
21 - amount past due to accounts
20 - length of time since legal item filed or collection item reported
18 - number of accounts delinquent
16 - insufficient or lack of revolving account information
15 - insufficient or lack of bank revolving account information
14 - length of time accounts have been established
13 - length of time (or unknown time) since account delinquent
12 - length of revolving account history
10 - proportion of balance to high credit on bank revolving or all revolving accounts
09 - number of accounts opened within the last 12 months
08 - number of recent inquiries
06 - number of finance company accounts
05 - number of accounts with balances
02 - delinquency reported on accounts
01 - current balances on accounts
9002 - the profile report does not contain any tradeline which satisfies both of the following:
status date within the last six (6) months or a balance within the last six (6) months. does not contain disputed information
- risk score not calculated due to lack of credit history
