Free Trans Union Credit Report Info

Your free TransUnion credit report provides a great deal of raw information. The importance of the data is in how it's interpreted. To get the maximum benefit from your credit report, here's how to see the report data like a creditor does.

Your Free Trans Union Credit Report Covers:

• Identification
• Credit History
• Public Records
• Report Requests

Identification Section
This lists your name, current and former addresses, phone number, Social Security number, birth date and job address. The most important thing to check in this section is the accuracy of your name and Social Security number.

Quick Tip:

• It's important to give your name on applications in the same way every time so that your credit information doesn't end up in multiple files. This is especially important for married or previously married women who may have several versions of their name.

Credit History Section
This part of your free Trans Union credit report is the record of credit accounts you've had for the past 7 years. This is the part that a lender pays the most attention to. She wants to know five things:

• Have you paid your bills on time and for the full amount?
• How long have you had credit established?
• Have you recently opened any new accounts?
• How much do you owe overall and are your account balances low or high?
• Do you have a variety of account types?

Late or Slow Pays
If your credit report shows a few bill-paying problems, a creditor looks at their recency and seriousness. If you were late by 30 days on a bill from 3 years ago, it's much less serious then having an account in collections today. And like your bill-paying history, the length of time that you've had credit is another indicator of how you'll handle debts in the future. But if you have little credit history, warning! Don't open up several new accounts at once as this increases your risk in the eyes of a lender.

Total Debt Load
Second only to bill paying in importance is the total amount of debt shown on your credit report. A creditor wants to see a history of handling your current debt level with no wide swings. She doesn't want to see accounts with high balances or lots of unused accounts. So it will benefit you if you pay down any high balance accounts and close unused ones.

Finally, a lender likes to see that your credit report shows a mixture of different accounts. If all you had was credit card debt, you might improve your credit profile by opening a retail account or buy something on installments.

We'll take up the final two sections, Public Records and Credit Inquiries, in another article. If you'd like to see your free Trans Union report, you can visit the government-mandated free site (annualcreditreport.com) or use a free service online which often bundles credit scores with their packages.