Credit Report Personal Information Category

Your credit reports from Equifax, Experian or Trans Union each have five different categories:

• Personal Information, also referred to as Personal Identification Information by Equifax
• Historical Account Information
• Inquiries
• Public Records
• Collections

This Essay will deal with the basics of the Credit Report Personal information category.  My purpose is to help you understand the potential significance of the entries in this category.  Some people worry unnecessarily about matters that have no significance to the scoring system.  Your review of this category should encompass more than just checking your date of birth and social security number for accuracy.

Credit Report Personal Information: Names Reported

Trivial variations on names appear in various accounts.  You may be a Jr or Sr.  You may use your middle initial on some documents, but not on others.  You may be a Miss, Mrs or Ms depending on what you feel is appropriate at the time.  Some people change their names when marrying and some people don’t.  Some people go back to their maiden name when divorcing and some don’t.

These types of variations are of little concern.  If you sometimes sign as John and sometimes sign as Jack; if you are Ed sometimes and Edward at other times no one is likely to feel there is an intent to deceive.  What may be of concern is if you sometimes get confused with someone with a similar name.  This is of particular concern with the less common names.  Of even more concern is attempted identity theft in which a small variation on your true name is a potential lead to catch the thief.  For these reasons it is wise to stick to your correct legal name for all business matters.  If when you check your credit report you see a genuine mistake write to the credit bureau and request its immediate removal.  This helps to avoid trouble when that mistake starts getting repeated or you are questioned.  It can look to others like you were trying to get away with something.

Credit Report Personal Information: Addresses Reported

Make sure that your current address is accurate.  Old addresses that are listed should be checked for accuracy.  Accurate old addresses can help ID you to prevent identity theft.  Old addresses can also be used by snoops to find old neighbors that may or may not be friendly or prone to vicious gossip.

Credit Report Personal Information: Employment

The category of employment in your credit report personal information is frequently outdated.  When you change jobs no one at the credit reporting agencies knows about it.  Employers never think or care to report new employees to credit reporting agencies.  Credit reporting agencies typically find out about new employment only when the consumer applies for new credit.  Of course sharp savvy people like yourself will report new employment to them on your own.