Important Information About Your Credit Report That You May Not Know
We all know that credit report is important as it’s one of the things that serve as the deciding factor of lenders if they would approve your application or not. It could also tell the interest rate on the loan in case it gets approved. Aside from this, there may be other things that you may not know about your credit score or report. Let’s take a look at some of this information in order to help you understand about it better.
It’s Not Just for Loans
Credit check is no longer just being made by lenders to determine the creditworthiness of the borrower. Even potential employers and landlords use this to make their decision with regards to hiring you or allowing you to rent in their property. That being said, you should take care of your credit score as it has a huge impact in different areas of your life.
What Makes Up Your Credit Score
You may think that paying your monthly credit bill in full and on time is enough to keep your credit score high. However, this is not the only factor considered when calculating your credit score. Aside from your payment history, other things that affect your score are the number of inquiries on your credit report, credit types, credit length, and credit usage.
There Could Be Errors on Your Credit Report
There may be items in your credit report that are inaccurate. This is why you should make it a point to review your report to determine any errors and request them to be removed from the reporting agency that has this record. The three main credit reporting agencies in the US offer free credit report yearly, which you can take advantage of. There are various reasons on why these inaccuracies could happen including miscommunications, out of date files, clerical errors and switched records.
Credit Report Lasts for Years
Although what typically shows on your report are the information of your credit for the past two years, your record actually holds information that goes way back. This means that lenders or companies checking your record may be able to get details that are older than two years.
Credit Check Affects Credit Score
As you already know, inquiries made on your credit report can affect your credit score. Did you know that there are two types of inquiries? They are soft and hard inquiries. Soft inquiries are the ones that you make to check on your credit score or inquiries made that has something to do with advertising products and services. Hard inquiries on the other hand are the ones made by lenders to determine if they’ll approve your loan application or if they’ll extend your credit. Hard inquiries could pull down your score more than soft inquiries.
Mortgage and Auto Loans Are Prioritized
Just like hard inquiries have more effect on your credit score than soft inquiries, this is also the same with the type of loans that you have. Auto loans and mortgage are given more priorities than other types of loans or credits. So make sure that you’re updated on your payment on these loans.
Do you know of other credit score or credit report information that you wish to share? Type your comments below.
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Featured and 1st image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
2nd image by image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
3rd image by image curtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
