HOW TO READ AND UNDERSTAND YOUR CREDIT REPORTS

INDENTIFICATION The Identification section contains information about you, such as your name, current and past addresses, birth date, Social Security number, telephone numbers, driver's license numbers, employer and spouse's name. This is not a section to take lightly—if your Social Security number is listed incorrectly, for example, credit accounts that are not yours could be associated with you on your credit report.

CREDIT HISTORY The Credit History section lists your present and past credit accounts. For each account, the credit report will normally include the following information:

• Name of the company
• Type of credit (revolving credit normally takes the form of credit cards while car loans and mortgages are examples of installment credit)
• When you opened the credit account
• Account number
• Names of anyone who is also listed on the account
• Total amount of the loan, your credit limit, or the highest balance had on the credit card
• Remaining balance on the loan or card left to pay
• Minimum monthly amount paid or amount of your fixed monthly payment
• Whether the account is open, closed, inactive, paid, etc.
• Your payment history

COLLECTIONS Any credit accounts that have been sent to a collection agency in the past seven years are listed here. The amount you owe, the name of the collection agency and sometimes the agency's contact information will be listed. You need to look these over carefully to make sure that everything listed is correct and current.

PUBLIC RECORDS The Public or Courthouse Records section will display anything on public record having to do with you meeting your financial obligations. Bankruptcies, judgments and collection accounts will be found here. In some states, overdue child support payments may also be listed in this section.

INQUIRIES In the Inquiries section, you'll find a list of businesses that have requested and received a copy of your credit report in the last 24 months. If a company looks unfamiliar, take note and follow up to see why they are accessing your credit information. Too many inquiries can look bad to creditors examining your credit, so it's a good idea to try to keep this list short.