| In this part of the Mastering Credit Repair series we | | | | bureaus, they have the choice of reporting to one or |
| are going to talk about the importance of your credit | | | | any combination of the bureaus, therefore each |
| score. You see, it would be difficult to set out repairing | | | | bureau will have different information pertaining to your |
| your credit if you didn't know what your score was. It's | | | | credit history. What does that mean to you? That |
| like a professional sports team researching the | | | | means your report and score will be different at each |
| competition so they can prepare the right game plan. | | | | bureau. |
| So, knowing your score and having your credit report | | | | When you apply for a new credit card or home/auto |
| from all three national bureaus is the first part of | | | | loan, the lender will pull your history from one or any |
| making your game plan. | | | | combination of all three bureaus. Because you don't |
| I'm going to start with some general knowledge of the | | | | know which one(s) they will choose, you will need to |
| major bureaus and how they work. As you begin | | | | know your report and score from all three bureaus. |
| building credit, lenders begin filing information about you | | | | This is a crucial part of your game plan. |
| - such as if you make payments on-time, or if your | | | | There are many places to get your reports and |
| payments are late, how much you have borrowed, the | | | | scores, but ultimately they do come from the credit |
| list goes on. This information is considered your credit | | | | bureaus themselves. Also, there are many versions of |
| history. | | | | the credit score, but the one that most (if not all) of the |
| There are three national bureaus that maintain a | | | | lenders will use is the FICO score. Because each |
| history profile on you: | | | | lender maintains a different history on you, your FICO |
| - Experian | | | | score will be different at each bureau. |
| - Equifax | | | | Your goal will be to get your credit score and FICO |
| - TransUnion | | | | score from each bureau. |
| Even though lenders report information to the credit | | | | |