Analyze Your Credit Reports
Once you have obtained your credit reports you will want to look for any 'damaging' or 'negative' information. All 3 of the major credit bureaus report differently.
Analyzing your credit report is not always easy because they are coded in a way that can be complicated to read by the average consumer. Each credit report should arrive with a key that interprets the codes and indicators on the credit report. Sit down with the credit report and the key and study it until you understand what each number and code means.
The items listed below are in order of descending importance with the first item being the "most damaging" to your credit.
- Bankruptcies
- Foreclosures
- Repossessions
- Charge offs
- Judgments
- Tax Liens
- Collections
- Late Payments
- Credit Inquiries
You will also want to look for incorrect personal information such as incorrect names, birth dates, addresses, former addresses, social security numbers, aliases, spouses name, etc.