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Credit
History
Or
credit report is a record of an individual's or company's
past borrowing and repaying, including information about late
payments and bankruptcy. The term "credit reputation"
can either used synonymous to credit history or to credit
score.
This information is used by lenders such as credit card companies
to determine an individual's or an entity's credit worthiness;
that is, the means and willingness to repay an indebtedness.
This helps determine whether to extend credit, and on what
terms. With the adoption of risk based pricing on almost all
lending in the financial services industry, this report has
become even more important since it is usually the sole element
used to choose the APR (annual percentage rate).
Obtaining your own credit report
USA
In the USA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles every taxpayer
to one free personal credit report per year and per agency.
The following website has been set up for this:
* www.annualcreditreport.com
Note that the name of the site is annualcreditreport and should
not be confused with a somewhat similarly named commercial
site whose "free" offers may have strings attached.
The free reports are available in all states as of September
1, 2005.
• No Credit? You Will Need a Bad Credit Loan
• A Personal Loan And Your Rights
Although consumers are entitled to reports from all three
major agencies at once, it is possible to request one at a
time. Staggering the reports every four months allows the
consumer to continue monitoring their credit throughout the
year. UK consumers can check their credit file on sites including
www.mycallcredit.com
How to improve your credit rating
* Maintain a good payment record - It is very important to
pay your bills on time. A lot of late payments can lower a
credit history record.
* Control of debt - Lenders want to see that you are not living
beyond your means. Experts estimate that non-mortgage credti
payments each month should not exceed more than 15 percent
of your after tax income.
* Signs of responsibility and stability - Lenders perceive
things such as longevity in your home and job (at least two
years) as signs of stability. Having a respected profession
can improve a credit rating.
* Credit inquiries – Keeping credit inquiries to a minimum
can help your credit rating as whenever you apply for a credit
card, the lender accesses your creidt rating from a credit
rating agency as part of the approval process. When your credit
rating is accessed, a note is made of this access on the record
for two years. Credit companies perceive many inquiries on
your report as a signal that you are looking for loans and
will possibly consider you a poor credit risk. To keep your
creidit rating good, try not to let companies access your
history unnecessarily.
* Keep cards you don't use - Although it is believed that
having too many credit cards can have an adverse affect on
your credit score, closing lines of credit can not improve
your score and may even hurt it. The credit rating formula
looks at the difference between the amount of credit you have
and the amount you're using, so reducing your total credit
can make the balance you carry seem larger and take points
off your score.
creidit, cerdit, redit, creidt, credti, hstory, hsitory, histroy
See:
• Credit
Finance
• Credit
Score
• Debt consolidation
• Creditor
• Bonds
• Credit Rating Agencies
* Fair Credit Reporting Act
* Credit repair
* Credit card
* Identity theft
• Bankruptcy
• Business
Financing
• Business
Factoring
• Loan Companies
• Florida FL mortgage lenders
• California CA mortgage lenders
• Chicago loan companies
• Chicago mortgage lenders
This article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Wikipedia
article "Credit History".
Also see:
• Having
Trouble Getting a Loan? Ten Common Credit Mistakes |
