What is a credit report?

A credit report is a record of how well a consumer pays his bills and manages debt. Lenders use this record when determining whether to lend the consumer future credit.

Not all bills are included on a credit report, only accounts that are reported to the three credit bureaus by lenders. A credit report includes open accounts, closed accounts that are less than 10 years old, collection and charge-off accounts and the total requests for credit from up to two years. It also includes a record of personal information, such as current and former addresses, a social security number and employers. Collection and charge-off accounts are included from up to seven years after the date of first delinquency.