DIY Credit History Monitoring Tips
Here are some helpful tips and facts for DIY credit monitoring.
You know that monitoring your credit is important, but you may not know where to start.
If you don't know the difference between credit reports and credit scores or if you are confused by other terms like credit history, you need a quick DIY guide. To help you, PrivacyGuard has created this starter guide for do-it-yourself
.
Understanding the basics of credit reporting:
There are several terms that you will hear when discussing and researching credit monitoring. Below are the three terms that you should be familiar with.
Credit history:
This is a financial profile that lists how you utilize credit. It includes open and closed (within seven to eleven years) accounts from creditors, including mortgage lenders, auto financing companies, credit card companies, utilities, and any other organization that acts as a lender to you.
Credit report:
Your credit report is a compilation of your credit history and your personal information (e.g. name, address, Social Security number, etc.). This report is produced by the three main independent credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Credit score:
is a numerical representation of the information in your credit report. Credit scores generally range from 300 to 850, with under 400 being quite low and 700+ putting you in the healthy range.