Credit Report

A report from a credit bureau containing detailed information bearing on creditworthiness, including the individual's credit history. A typical credit report shows some personal information including Social Security number; current and past addresses; employment history; collection accounts; and credit information. The last covers individual credit relationships and shows the creditor, the current status of each account including the amount outstanding and the maximum line if any, prior payment history, and recent activity. A credit report also shows a list of companies that have requested the individual's file and the date the request was made. At one time, underwriters with responsibility for determining whether or not a mortgage applicant was 'creditworthy' spent much of their time studying and interpreting credit reports. Increasingly, however, this judgment is being based on credit scores.