credit reports

Check out our gallery to see how many of these 10 must-have documents are in your possession -- and which ones it's time for you to take action on.

The number of consumers in the top credit score range has reached its highest level since fall 2008, a report by FICO Labs shows, which could indicate more Americans are working to better their personal finances.

A credit reporting agency agreed to pay a nearly $2 million fine to settle federal charges that it broke the law by selling sensitive financial information about consumers seeking payday loans to marketers. Teletrack Inc. of Norcross, Ga., will pay the Federal Trade Commission $1.8 million to...

If your credit reports are riddled with numerous late payments or major black marks – like a recent foreclosure or a fresh bankruptcy filing – it probably comes as no surprise that you'll have a tougher time getting a loan than someone with perfect credit. But what about those of you...

When I wrote recently about five surprising things that hurt your credit scores – things like renting a car with a debit card or financing the purchase of furniture – many people were shocked to learn that innocent, everyday actions can wind up blemishing their credit reports. In...

We all know that making late payments or having credit card accounts in collections can hurt your credit scores. But you might be shocked to learn that a lot of other seemingly innocent actions can also negatively impact your credit rating. Here's a list of five surprising things that can lower...

Although credit scores fall in a range from 300 to 850, most of us never see the very top or the very bottom of that range -- the majority of us fall somewhere in the middle. But some Americans see that 850 as a fiscal mountain to climb, and they set about getting as close to the summit as...

Credit-reporting bureau Experian has begun adding rental payment histories to Americans' credit reports, following the company's acquisition of RentBureau last June. For people with what are referred to as "thin" credit files, such as students, new college grads or recent immigrants, this is an...

Get a free credit report once a year from AnnualCreditReport.com, a site sponsored by the three major credit reporting companies, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. You can request your free credit report online, over the phone or via the mail. The last two options are not instantaneous,...

Identity theft is a problem that isn't going away anytime soon. With more than 11 million victims in the U.S. in 2009, it's a very real problem that can become an even bigger hassle during the holiday shopping season, when we are busier (and more distracted) than usual and hunting for a good...