1. Personal Information
Personal information helps the credit reporting companies to identify you and distinguish you from other borrowers.
- Name, address, Social Security Number, date of birth
- Previous addresses
- Employment history
2. Public Records
The credit reporting companies collect information from court systems. This only includes judgments related to your finances (no traffic tickets, for example).
- Bankruptcy
- Tax liens
- Foreclosure
- Wage garnishment
3. Inquiries
Every time somebody asks the credit reporting companies about your credit, they make a record of it.
4. Trade Lines
Perhaps the most significant information collected by the credit reporting companies, trade lines are records of your loans. They detail the vital characteristics of each loan. They may go by a variety of names depending on the credit reporting company, but the general characteristics in interest are:
- Type of loan
- Creditor name
- Date opened
- Date of last activity
- Loan balance
- Maximum balance
- Account status
- Comments
- Your liability on the account
- Amount past due
- Minimum payment due
- Amount of your last payment
See visual examples of how these items look on your credit reports:
Not at Credit Reporting Companies
The major credit reporting companies do not collect information on the following:
- Bounced checks (see ChexSystems)
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Sex
- Political views
- Income
Some information is kept at the credit reporting companies, but not displayed on your credit reports. Negative items that have been closed out over seven years ago generally fall into this category. The data still exists at the credit reporting company, but is not included in most credit reports.
Other Credit Reporting Companies
In addition to the three major credit reporting companies, there are hundreds of smaller credit reporting companies that collect other types of information for specific purposes. However, those companies are not used in most loan transactions.
Viewing Your Reports
To view these items on your credit reports, order a copy. The US Government requires each of the credit reporting companies to provide you with a free credit report each year. Take advantage of that right.
