misspelledsearch.com:

credit history

information page

If you cannot find the information you are searching for on this page, we suggest searching Google with the correct spelling "credit history":

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 be used synonymous to credit history or to credit score.

When you fill out an application for credit from a bank, store or credit card company, your information is forwarded to a credit bureau, along with constant updates on the status of your credit accounts, address or any other changes you may have made since the last time you applied for any credit.

This information is used by lenders such as credit card companies to determine an individual's or entity's credit worthiness; that is, determining an individual's or entity's 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 agency every twelve months. 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.

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.

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 credit 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.

• Re-Aging - Through re-aging, your credit history is re-written and you are given a fresh start on that particular account. This can dramatically improve your credit score. In 2000 the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFEIC) clarified guidelines on re-aging accounts for delinquent borrowers. [1] (PDF)

• Credit inquiries – An inquiry is a notation on your credit history file. There are several kinds of notations that may or may not have an adverse effect on your credit score. Soft pulls don't affect your credit score and are characteristic of the following examples:

A credit bureau may sell your contact information to an advertiser purchasing a list of people with similar characteristics, like homeowners with excellent credit. A creditor can check your credit periodically and so note your file will no adverse effect to your credit history. Or, a credit counseling agency, with your permission, can pull your credit report with no adverse action. Each of the preceding examples are commonly referred to as a "soft" credit pull.

However "hard" credit inquiries are made by lenders. Lenders, when granted a permissible purpose by you for the purposes of extending you credit, can check your credit history. Hard inquiries from lenders directly affect your credit score. Keeping credit inquiries to a minimum can help your credit rating. A lender may 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 credit 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.

How to restrict companies from accessing your credit history

In the USA, conditions for credit reports are set in § 1681b. Subsections (a)(3)(A) and (c)(1)(B) allow companies to obtain such information e.g. if they plan to send pre-approved credit cards. An interesting fact, which is not communicated in the official website, is that consumers can opt out according to subsection (e):

A consumer may elect to have the consumer’s name and address excluded from any list provided by a consumer reporting agency ... in connection with a credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer, by notifying the agency ... that the consumer does not consent to any use of a consumer report relating to the consumer in connection with any credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer ...

(A) through the notification system maintained by the agency ...; or

(B) by submitting to the agency a signed notice of election form issued by the agency for purposes of this subparagraph.

You may find out more about opt out options by visiting http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/protect.htm#Credit

Bibliography

On the history and origins of credit reporting, see Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, by Scott A. Sandage (Harvard University Press, 2005), chapters 4-6.

See also

• Adverse Credit History
• Credit card
• Credit rating agency
• Credit reference agency
• Credit score
• Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Identity theft

This credit history index site has been developed to help wayward users find the information they are looking for, no matter how they are mistakenly spelled or mistyped. This site is designed to help users find credit history information for the following query variants:

credit	credit historie	credit histolie	credit hstory
credit hitory	credit hisory	credit histry	credit histoy
credit histery	credit histerie	credit hysterie	credit hystory
credit hystoly	credit hystorie	credit hystolie	credit hystery
credit histoly	credit hlstory	credit histoyr	credit histroy
credit hisotry	credit hitsory	credit hsitory	credit ihstory
credit histor	credit istory	history	cledyt history
credyt history	cledit history	credet history	cledet history
cretit history	cletit history	credi history	cledi history
credy history	cledy history	creti history	cleti history
credlt history	credti history	creidt history	crdeit history
cerdit history	rcedit history	credt history	creit history
crdit history	cedit history	redit history

If you would like to add or correct the content of this site, or if you are interested in supporting the efforts of misspelledsearch.com by placing your product information on these credit history pages, please contact mistype@gmail.com for details.