More importantly, a credit report is a record of how you use credit and how much of it you have available. If you’re late in making a monthly payment, that too shows up on your credit report.

Whether a lender is evaluating your loan request or a card company is considering whether to give you a credit card, you can count on an evaluation of your credit report to influence its decision.

Unfortunately, some of us mismanage credit and pay the price: Information remains on a credit report for years and may hurt the chance of getting additional credit. Sometimes, credit reports omit steps that borrowers have taken to improve their credit, or contain errors.

We can assist gaining access to your credit report, monitor your credit report for accuracy, understand your rights and how to repair your credit.

The credit report is extremely important, especially when it comes to credit cards.  Banks and lenders use your credit report to determine if you meet their criteria for a credit card or a loan.  Your credit report is the determining factor for your credit, which is why you should never let your credit cards do any type of damage to your report.  To avoid this, simply pay your bill on time.

Most people will use their credit cards responsibly and won’t damage their credit report.  Doing this will show lenders that you are responsible, and that they can trust you with loans and credit – which in turn will raise your credit score.  Keep in mind however; if you have a lot of open accounts, it may tell lenders that you have a lot open and that you won’t be able to pay them back.  Although this may count as good credit, lenders look at several open accounts as being potentially damaging to your credit report.

Although you may be tempted to have more than one credit card, it can actually be a downfall in the eyes of the lender.  Most lenders will see this as you having a way to spend all of your limit, and will fear that you may do so.  Even though you may not have this intention, credit card lenders will almost always fear the worst case scenario, and it eventually lead to you damaging your credit score – simply because a lender will turn you down for a future offer you apply for.

Something else you need to keep in mind is the fact that it can be really easy to miss a payment on your credit cards.  Although this doesn’t sound bad, it can have a very negative look on your credit report.  If you start missing payments or paying them late, the lender will eventually enter it in your credit report.  This can have a negative impact, lowering your beacon score and eventually bringing down your overall credit rating.

If you play it safe and only get one or two credit cards and keep a track of how you use them, you won’t need to worry.  Your credit report should always be a primary concern, and you should always do your best to ensure that it stays free of negative ratings.  If you keep up things up to date – you’ll enjoy the benefit of a positive credit report.

Because of the growing threat of identity theft, congress passed the law that allows everyone to receive the free Equifax credit report once a year. With the ability to view these reports for free, the government feels that more people will pay attention to what is in their credit report and be able to catch identity theft earlier than in the past.

To receive a free Equifax credit report, a person can do one of two things. They can send a written request to Experian asking that their report be mailed to them. Once they receive the request, Experian will mail the report and it will be received within six weeks. The other option is to log onto the internet and go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

Annualcreditreport.com allows a person to view not only their free Equifax credit report, but also their reports from the other two major credit reporting agencies.  They will request some personal information and then ask questions to verify the identity of the person requesting the report, and then let that person view their free Equifax credit report and the others for up to thirty days.

Once the free Equifax credit report is received, it needs to be checked for accuracy and anything that is not familiar reported to Equifax. This could include something as small as a discrepancy in the address history, or something as large as a loan or credit card being reported that the individual did not apply for.

With the law in place to receive a free Equifax credit report, more people should be requesting their credit reports and checking them to make sure that someone has not stolen, or tried to steal, their identity.

Your Experian credit report will contain a great deal of information about you that needs to be reviewed. You should start with your address and work history. Look at it and make sure that what Experian is correct. If you notice a discrepancy, note it so that you can contact them to dispute it after you have reviewed your entire report.

You should also look over the information in the active and inactive account sections. Your Experian credit report will show what accounts are currently open, if they are in good standing and what your credit limit is. It will also show closed accounts and if they have any charge offs or negative history.

Pay close attention to your negative history in your Experian Credit Report. This section will include late payments, judgments, write offs, ect. If you notice something that you feel is not correct, make a note of the company, the account number and how much they say you owe.

Once you have reviewed your Experian Credit Report, call the company to contest anything that you are not familiar with. Keep in mind that if it is a valid debt, the company that the debt is with will have proof somewhere that you are actually the one responsible for that debt. If you do find debts that are not yours and you feel someone has stolen your identity to receive loans and credit cards in your name, ask the company to put an alert on your credit report asking them to call you anytime credit is applied for.

Your credit report score is based on a number of things.  For example, if you have never had a credit card or a finance company or bank loan, your credit report score will be low because you have no history of credit. It will also be low if you have ever been 30 days or more late with a credit card or loan payment.

Your credit report score will be high if you have open (or closed) accounts that have a history of on-time payments and the accounts stayed open for at least 6 months. The better your credit report score is, the more likely you are to be able to finance a new car or buy a new house. An example of a good credit report score would be somewhere in the 700’s. A bad credit report score would fall below 600.

Keep in mind that every time you let someone check your credit report score, points come off of it.  It is only a few points at a time, but if you give your permission too many times to have your credit report score checked, it could make a significant difference in what that score will be.

To keep your credit report score within a good range, make sure that you make all of your payments on time. If you have a chance to pay a loan off early, that’s great. Just keep in mind that it looks better for you to keep it in good standing for six to eight months before paying it off. Try not to overextend yourself with credit card payments or loan accounts. Even if they are in good standing and your credit report score is high, some companies hesitate to loan money they feel you may not be able to pay back.

By keeping a good credit report score, you are ensuring that your future ability to buy a home or a vehicle, or even send your child to college, will be one less thing that you  have to worry about.

Thanks to new legislation that recently went into effect, you can receive your annual credit report from all three agencies free of charge. To do this, simply contact the agencies in writing and request your free annual credit report or go online to their websites to request it. The three major credit reporting agencies that you can receive your credit report from are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Once you receive your annual credit report, you need to take the time to review each one and verify the information. Your credit report will tell you all of the credit accounts that you have open, whether you have any late payment history, a recent history of any judgments that have been made against you, and your address and employment history. If there are accounts or judgments that you do not recognize in your annual credit report you should write down the information and contact the credit reporting agency as soon as possible. These are all signs of identity theft.

You cannot underestimate the importance of your annual credit report. Your credit score is based solely on the information in your credit report, and a bad score could keep you from financing a home or a new vehicle. By checking your annual credit report you can keep track of what is going on with your credit and whether someone has stolen or tried to steal your identity. Even if you know you have bad credit, it is still a good idea to request an annual credit report. Though companies do what they can to verify identity, there are identity thieves that know their way around the verification process.

Reviewing your annual credit report may not stop identity theft, but it gives you one of the tools that you need to stop it quickly if your identity is stolen.