A credit report is an equivalence of a report card on the management of your finances. It is a collection of detailed information on how you pay your bills, the amount of debt you have accumulated and how frequently you settle them as well as your bankruptcy status. The report includes your credit activities, your loan/debt settling history and your credit status. The credit activity history entails the accounts in good and due standing, account details in relation to high balances, credit limits in the past reports and information of accounts reclaimed by credit agencies. Credit reports maintain negative credit information for seven years.

A credit report can only be accessed only once in a year according to the Fair Reporting Act. The US federal law allows the credit report bureaus to supply customers and consumers with a free credit report in case any company or an individual has pursued an adversarial financial action against them. The act also allows employers to request a credit report of a potential or current employee but with permission from the employee. In this case the employer pays the bureau for the report.

The Fair Reporting Act permits three major credit bureaus to collect individuals’ credit information. They provide credit reports to insurance companies, banks, lenders and other organizations legally permitted to receive individuals’ credit reports. The credit reports are updated monthly as banks, lenders and other financial based firms send updated records to each credit reporting agency after every 30 days. The three credit reporting bureaus are TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.