Your credit report is an education for you in your financial history. It is the basis of any decision a lender might make regarding giving or refusing credit to you. It is a smart move to arrange to see your credit report.

The three major credit reporting agencies are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The reports from all three agencies are needed because creditors and lenders may not all report to the same agency and the reports may be different. If you go to annualcreditreport.com you can find out the procedure for obtaining your reports. You can get a free report from all yearly.

The reports will have several sections. Know that there will not be personal private information about your race, worth, or salary included. There will be the usual identifying such as name, address, social security number in the first section.

There will be a section related to any credit lines. These credit lines will include loans, mortgages, credit cards, gas and department store cards. It will give the date each credit line was opened, credit limits, payment history (including late payments), balances, overdrawn bank accounts, and unpaid child support.

The court system also provides information to credit reporting agencies. Such reported information will include bankruptcies, divorce, judgments, and liens.

An inquiry from a credit reporting agency will be made each time you apply for any type of credit. These inquiries will be on your credit report and stay on for 2 years. Also, when you make your own inquiry, it will also be on the report.

It is to your benefit if your credit report is positive. However, any negative information will remain on the report for 7 years. A bankruptcy is on your credit report for 10 years.

Request those credit reports from all 3 agencies. Compare the reports, be aware of discrepancies and fix errors. We have a personal responsibility to monitor our own credit profile, fix mistakes and, if needed, repair our credit.