Introduction to Credit Reporting

Whether you're a loan officer, car dealer, or work in any occupation that requires you to interpret credit reports, navigating complicated tradelines can be overwhelming. This training piece is designed to provide useful insight, practical advice, and answers to common questions.

• Credit Reporting - An Overview - The first step to understanding how best to acquire credit approval for your customers is to understand how credit information is gathered from consumers.
• Understanding Credit Risk Scores - Credit scoring has become the primary means of assessing a consumer's creditworthiness. Financing decisions of all types are often made based on a consumer's credit score.
• The Benefits of Merged Credit Reports - Avoid the hassle and confusion of accessing multiple credit bureaus individually by using a merged credit report.
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act - The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ensures that consumer reporting agencies provide accurate and comprehensive information to businesses that evaluate consumers’ creditworthiness.
• Prequalification Using Credit Reports - A credit report is an important prequalification tool for businesses that rely on consumer financing. To get more customers financed successfully, it is vital to prequalify a customer before sending their applications to lenders.
• Reading a Credit Report - We've provided a step-by-step guide to reading and interpreting a merged credit report from First American CREDCO, a third-party credit reporting agency.
• View a Sample Credit Report - View one of the most widely used merged credit reports provided by First American CREDCO.