Equifax is one of the three major national credit bureaus and is used by numerous creditors to check their credit report as the last report credit data on its existing customers. Since the credit report with Equifax is used by several lenders and lending institutions to check the creditworthiness of a consumer, you should check your credit report from Equifax and make sure that it is in order. You can order your credit report for free or directly from the website of www.Equifax.com.
Like the credit report from the other two bureaus your personal credit report from Equifax will start by listing your personal information such as your name, spouse’s name, address, employs and the last few digits of your Social Security number. This section will keep a record of all variations reported in the name and address as employment status. You should check that all the variations reported are either a result of you making an application with a different name, change of address or change in the employment status. And unsolicited and unexplained variation in any of your personal details could either be due to an error on the part of the creditor when reporting your information or could even be an identifier to identity theft.
The next section on the Equifax credit report is the public records section. This section will contain information from public records such as tax liens, federal court judgments and filings for bankruptcy. Basically this section covers all the negative items on your credit file so it will also include collection accounts, delinquent accounts, late accounts, defaulted loans, foreclosures and charge-offs. This is the section to watch out for and to make sure that it contains no negative entries as any entry in this section will raise question in the minds of your creditor.
After the section of the negative items, your current accounts and any previous accounts that are seen in a favorable light will be listed. This listing on the Equifax credit report will be identified as trade lines section. It can also contain information pertaining to payment history, high credit limits and other balances. Not all information in this section is considered to be favorable and will depend upon what loan you’re applying for.
The final section on the Equifax credit report is the credit Inquiries section. This section will contain the soft as well as the hard enquiries. Hard enquiries are enquiries made by creditors as a result of a credit application made by you. The creditor will make a request to: out your credit file in order to calculate your credit worthiness based on the information present on your Equifax credit report. This section will include all enquiries that have happened within the last 24 months as well as the soft Inquiries is which have resulted due to you requesting your own credit report, enquiries made by employers and landlords and for preapproved offers.
The next section will include any statements requested by the consumer to be put on his credit file which usually pertaining to disputed information on the credit report which has not been resolved to the satisfaction of the consumer. Every consumer has the right to attach a personal note in defense of disputed account.
You should check your Equifax credit report at least once a year to make sure that the information maintained by them is accurate and to avoid the risk of identity theft and credit fraud.