Good Credit Report - Fixing Your Good Credit Report

A credit report is an account of your credit payment records. It shows your payment and borrowing habits including late payments and bankruptcy. Credit reports are usually provided to companies and banks by credit bureaus, especially when an individual wants a loan or credit, therefore, a good credit report is important. Credit bureaus retain your name, address and other information that can identify you. The information acquired from the credit bureaus helps to determine your creditworthiness by how well you repaid your debts in the past. Lenders especially prefer to see debts paid timely from month to month. Creditors and lenders should, therefore, provide accurate information to these credit bureaus.

Agencies can request various types of credit reports depending on the purpose of the report. The common types are Consumer Credit Reports, Property Manager Credit Reports, Business Credit Reports, Employer Credit Reports and Mortgage Broker Credit Reports. Consumer credit reports are those that focus on the spending and payment records of an individual. Property manager credit reports are usually requested by landlords to establish your record in paying rent. Business credit reports on the other hand are requested by financial institutions such as banks before making a business loan to determine whether a business has a good credit rating. Employer credit reports are used much the same as consumer credit reports to determine the creditworthiness of an individual.

Mortgage broker credit reports are more extensive than the others are since they gather information from more than one database. They are requested to detemine if an individual is a risk who has sufficiently good credit for a mortgage. Information collected by credit bureaus is maintained in the reports described above. Credit bureaus are regulated so as to protect the confidentiality of consumers, granters and issuers. Most are also not associated with the governments in their countries although these governments and their legal systems provide information to these bureaus.

A good credit report, therefore, is one that would assist you in accessing credit or loans. This report would show that you pay your debts uniformly and on time. Determining credit ratings varies from country to country but most factors are similar, including payment history, debt control, signs of stability and responsibility and re-aging. Late payments (usually by 30 days or more) will affect the credit report. Debt control refers to whether a borrower is living within his means while stability tries to establish whether the borrower is consistent in his payment methods. Re-aging means that the date when the last action was performed is changed. This affects the credit ratings of a consumer, especially in the case of a delinquent borrower.

The number of credit inquiries that are made can also determine if someone has a good credit rating. Every time a company requests information about a borrower it is noted on the credit report. Some inquiries have no effect on a credit rating while others have an adverse effect. Unused credit cards can affect the credit rating of an individual as well. This is because closing these unused credit accounts will reduce the total credit available to the individual, lower his available credit percentage and eventually lower his credit score. Closing a credit account with a good credit record will also affect the individual’s credit score.