Your credit report is a history of your credit activities such as timeliness of payment, current debt balances, length of credit history, types of credit made available to you, the number of credit inquiries and any legal action taken against you for non-payment ( such as bankruptcy, lawsuit or judgment.) The credit scoring systems use your credit report to generate your credit score.

The credit report, specifically your credit scores, is one of the most important factors considered when determining loan qualification and how it effects your interest rate and loan terms. The higher your credit score, the better position you will find yourself in when it is time to negotiate a great interest rate. An annual check of your credit report can help you monitor whether the information is up-to-date and accurate.

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has instituted a requirement that credit reporting agencies must provide a FREE COPY of your credit reports once a year. You can better manage your credit scores and information by monitoring your credit report on a yearly basis. Because you never know which one of the reporting agencies may be used when someone is pulling your credit, it is important that you monitor all three credit reporting agencies. You may access the reporting agencies below:

http://www.annualcreditreport.com

• Equifax               http://www.equifax.com
  

• Experian            http://www.experian.com
  
• Transunion       http://www.transunion.com