What to Look for in Your Credit Report

For anyone that has credit it’s very important to check your credit report often. Many different things that are completely out of your control (as well as in your control) can affect your credit score, and it’s up to you to regularly obtain a credit report to fix any issues before they grow. There are many different things to look for, but here are the most common issues you’ll want to be looking for when you check your credit report.

Personal Information:

Make sure that all the information on the credit report is to the right person (you). To do this you’ll want to make sure that all the personal information on the items such as address, name, and even suffix are correct. If the information on your credit score report isn’t correct then there’s a good chance that your files got mixed up with someone else and you need to contact the major credit bureaus immediately. Note that address changes that haven’t made by you are a strong sign of identity theft and should be investigated.

Checking the Accounts on the Report:

You’ll want to make sure all the accounts on your credit report are your accounts. There are several things you can do to check to make sure no fraudulent accounts are being made under your personal information. Check things like monthly payments, account creation, and credit limits. If any fraudulent accounts are showing up on your credit report contact credit bureaus immediately, and launch an investigation; you’re most likely an identity-theft victim if you’re seeing these fraudulent accounts on your credit score report.

Scan Recent Inquiries:

In this part of your credit report you’ll be able to see who has requested information on your credit score recently. If you’re seeing too many credit report requests then it’d be smart to call the authorities to make sure you’re not an identity theft victim since a large amount of inquiries usually leads to mass fraudulent account creations, which are guaranteed to hurt your credit score.

Credit Report

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