If you have ever taken out a loan, used a credit card or taken advantage of a "buy now, pay later" offer, you will have a credit history. Whenever a financial institution, such as a bank, a credit card company, or any other business gives you credit, it may send information about whether or not you make your payments on time to a credit-reporting agency.
It is important to get a copy of your credit history. You may think your credit history is perfect because you have never been late or missed any of your loan payment, but recent studies have shown that perhaps as many as 50% of all credit histories have errors in them. And these errors could be a problem for you.
Today, you credit history is used as a measuring tool more than simply applying for a loan. Statistic shows that 92% of insurers are using credit history to predicting potential losses and apply appropriate rate for their customers. A potential employer, especially financial industry may want to review your credit history before they offer you any of their job positions. With tight rental market in many metropolitan areas, landlords want to see prospective tenant's credit histories. Whether you are going to be able to pay the rent of not is foremost on their minds.
Your credit report contains information about your past and present personal and financial situation. Credit cards that never been formally cancelled will appeared on your credit history as an open line of credit. Beside that, credit-related court judgment against you in a lawsuit such as bankruptcy, if any will be recorded in your credit report and follow you as your credit history for many years. If you have any delay or unpaid debts, they will be appeared in your credit report. These can potentially cause problems because, if you are applying for a loan such as a college loan, a home mortgage or job application, they will be entered into the credit formula as debt and affect your credit ratings. Bad credit ratings prevent you from getting the best offer in term of best interest rate, approve with higher loan amount, or getting hire in your job application.
Hence, your pass credit records are important to you and if you have a good record, make sure that they appeared correctly in your credit history as you should be. There are three major reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and Trans-Union, and they do not share information with each other, so you need to check your history from all three agencies. If you find errors, you can write to the agencies explaining the error, and they have 30 days to correct the error. You will want to check your report again after you have sent the corrections to be sure the changes were made.
In summary, it is your responsibility to ensure that your credit report is displaying your actual credit history. Take your initiative to confirm the correctness of you credit report so that you won't face any problem when come to the time you want to use it for any purpose.
In the U.S., when a customer fills out an application for credit from a bank, store or credit card company, their information is forwarded to a credit bureau. The credit bureau matches the name, address and other identifying information on the credit applicant with information retained by the bureau in its files.
This information is used by lenders such as credit card companies to determine an individual's credit worthiness; that is, determining an individual's willingness to repay a debt. The willingness to repay a debt is indicated by how timely past payments have been made to other lenders. Lenders like to see consumer debt obligations paid on a monthly basis.
The other factor in determining whether a lender will provide a consumer credit or a loan is dependent on income. The higher the income, all other things being equal, the more credit the consumer can access. However, lenders make credit granting decisions based on both ability to repay a debt (income) and willingness (the credit report) as indicated in the past payment history.
These factors help lenders 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 annual percentage rate (APR), grace period and other contractual obligations of the credit card or loan.
How credit rating is determined
Credit ratings are determined differently in each country, but the factors are similar, and may include:
Payment record - a record of bills being overdue, generally being more than 30 days, will lower the credit rating.
Control of debt - Lenders want to see that borrowers are not living beyond their means. Experts estimate that non-mortgage credit payments each month should not exceed more than 15 percent of the borrower's after tax income.
Signs of responsibility and stability - Lenders perceive things such as longevity in the borrower's home and job as signs of stability.
Re-Aging - Through re-aging, a credit history is re-written and you are given a fresh start on that particular account. This can dramatically improve the credit score. In 2000 the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFEIC) clarified guidelines on re-aging accounts for delinquent borrowers.
Credit outstanding--Lenders don't like to see the amount of credit owed bumping up against the credit limit of a card. Generally, a good idea is to owe no more than one-third of your total credit limit on a credit card.
Credit inquiries--An inquiry is a notation on a credit history file. There are several kinds of notations that may or may not have an adverse effect on the credit score. Soft pulls don't affect the credit score and are characteristic of the following examples:
A credit bureau may sell a person's contact information to an advertiser wanting to offer credit cards, loans and insurance based on certain criteria that the lender has established. A creditor also checks a person's credit periodically. Or, a credit counseling agency, with the client's permission, can obtain a client's credit report with no adverse action. Each of the preceding examples are commonly referred to as a "soft" credit pull.
Both Cornie Herring & Tarun Jaswani are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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