Your credit report is a compilation of your credit and financial history prepared by one the three primary credit rating agencies known as Equifax, Equerian and Trans Union. A credit report typically includes facts about your identity, your residential status and address, where you work, your habits of paying bills, and all public record information. Details of the credit report can be categorized into four parts:

Identification Information - Your full name, any known aliases, current and previous addresses, social security number, year of birth, current and past employers, and, if applicable, similar information about your spouse.

Details of Credit - This contains all the financial history in terms of the accounts you have with banks, banks, retailers, credit-card issuers, utility companies, and other lenders. The accounts are listed by type of loan you may have taken which includes mortgage, student loan, revolving credit, installment loan etc. It will also have the date of when the account was opened, your credit limit or the loan amount, any co-signers of the loan and your payment pattern over the past two years. Public Record Information: State and county court records on bankruptcy, tax liens, or monetary judgments. It will also include civil suits and judgments, bankruptcy records or other legal proceedings by a court.

Recent Inquiries: The names of those who have obtained copies of your credit report within the past year or two years in the case of employment records. The credit reporting agencies or credit bureaus compile and sell your credit report to business which need and use it for evaluating your applications for credit, insurance, employment and other purposes allowed by federal law. It is thus very important that your credit report contain complete an accurate information of your credit history. It should be check every two to three years to ensure that there are no mistakes or omissions.