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more you will need to work on repairing your credit.

Your accounts will normally fall into three main categories: Real Estate, Revolving and Installment. Real Estate accounts are mortgages, either primary or secondary; Revolving accounts are credit cards or any other open-end credit account and Installment accounts are loans and financing- i.e. any account for which you are responsible for paying a set amount, usually in installments.

Sometimes your credit report will list Collection accounts under their own category. Other times those accounts will be included in the applicable areas of the three main categories. Where these types of accounts are listed depends on the nature of the debt and the CRA issuing the credit report.

Public Information: Public Information is account data that is publicly available and usually encompasses government or legal debts. A bankruptcy would be listed under Public Information, as would a wage garnishment, a lien due to back taxes or missed payments, delinquent child support or alimony payments and any debt that was incurred as the result of a legal or government matter.

Consumer Statement: This section exists for you to include a statement that explains certain areas or items on your credit report. For example, you may write a statement explaining a negative debt or describing the terms of a bankruptcy. Anything you wish to say regarding your credit score and/or credit history can also be included in the Consumer Statement.

Inquiries: Inquiries are requests for your credit report by outside parties. Inquiries solicited by you (such as when you fill out a credit card application) are considered "Hard" inquiries and are visible to others requesting your credit report. Inquiries that were not solicited by you (such as by a bank sending you a credit card offer) are considered "Soft" inquiries and are not visible to outsiders when your credit report is viewed.

Accounts that normally do not appear on your credit report include utilities, residence leases, insurance and miscellaneous monthly or semi-monthly expenses such as cable television, newspaper delivery services, garbage pickup and mobile phone services.

Your credit report may seem like a large amount of information but if you take one section at a time it is easy to understand. One important thing to keep in mind is that not all creditors report to all credit agencies. For this reason, the information on your credit report from one agency may differ, sometimes dramatically, from the information on another. Therefore it is a good idea to check your credit reports from at least two if not all of the top three CRAs.

(1) http://www.transunion.com
http/ /:www.experian.com
http://www.e quifax.com

(2) http://www.truecredit.com

Learn more about this author, Mara Yoresh.
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