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ABA Family Legal Guide

Consumer Credit

Credit Records

Checking Your Credit Record

What does a credit report look like?

The basic format used by members of the ACB contains these major types of information:

  • Identification and employment data: your name, birth date, Social Security number, addresses (present and former), and employment history.
  • Public record information: Events that are a matter of public information related to your creditworthiness, such as bankruptcies, foreclosures, or tax liens, will appear in your credit report. An example would be record of a dispute between the consumer and an appliance dealer that was settled in a small-claims court.
  • Payment history: your account record with different credit grantors, showing how much credit has been extended and how you have repaid it.
  • Inquiries: Credit bureaus maintain a record of all credit grantors who have checked your credit record within the past six months. Credit bureaus typically do not include credit prescreeening inquiries in credit reports, but will provide them to consumers as a part of disclosure. Prescreening occurs when, for example, credit bureaus enable issuers of credit cards to develop mailing lists to make preapproved offers of their credit cards.
  • American Bar Association Family Legal Guide
    Copyright © 2004 American Bar Association
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