Do you know what to look for when you get free instant credit reports? The information in your
credit report is a financial snapshot of you for anyone granting you credit, employment, housing
or insurance. And although free instant credit reports contain a lot of information, the most
significant items are in the credit history section.
Your credit history shown in free instant credit reports, has the name and address of the
creditor, when the account was opened and what the terms were. It also shows if payments were
made on time and what the balance is. Your credit history includes all reported accounts for
the last seven years, even if they've been closed out.
A creditor looks at your credit history to estimate how well you'll pay your bills in the
future. If your history has been poor, he'll expect that to continue. However, he views the
recent past more significantly than the distant past. So if bill-paying problems show up your
free instant credit reports, but none are recent, they would probably be given little attention.
Also, if the amount involved was small, it would be less significant.
Besides how you've paid your bills, creditors want to find out how long you've had credit.
The longer your credit history is the better, both for an individual account and your overall
history. And when checking free instant credit reports, it's important to note not just the age
of an account, but the number of debt repayment cycles. Because repeated borrowing and
repayment is stronger than just the repayment of a one-time loan.
Along with how you repay your debts, a lender wants to know how much you owe and if it's
spread out in several accounts or concentrated in just a few. He'll rate your balances on a
mortgage or credit card differently but in general he likes to see low balances. As you go
over free instant credit reports you should also be aware that creditors like to see a variety of
account types. Most people with established credit carry a mixture of debt and creditors feel
this shows a certain level of financial sophistication.
Finally, lenders check your credit report for recent new accounts. If you have several new
accounts show up in the free instant credit reports this may be seen as a danger signal. This is
because creditors want to see consistency in your report and don't like sudden changes in your
use of credit.
To get free instant credit reports, your free credit score and free 30 days of credit
monitoring, please go to
free instant credit reports.
