Order Your Credit Report

What is a Credit Report?

A credit report is a detailed record of your borrowing history. It’s maintained by independent credit reporting agencies and typically includes:

• Personal identifying information (name, addresses, sometimes employers)
• Credit accounts (credit cards, auto loans, student loans, personal loans, mortgages, etc.)
• Account details (open dates, credit limits, balances, payment history)
• Public records and collections (bankruptcies, certain judgments, collection accounts where applicable)
• Credit inquiries (who has requested your credit information and when) 

This report is used to generate your credit scores, which are numerical summaries of your credit risk based on the information contained in your credit file. 

Why Do Credit Reports Matter?

When you apply for a mortgage or home equity loan/line of credit, lenders use your credit report (and associated scores) to assess risk and make key decisions, including:

• Loan approval or denial
• Interest rate and terms (higher credit risk can mean higher rates or stricter terms)
• Required down payment or equity position
• Loan amount and product options

Your credit profile helps lenders answer questions like:

• Do you pay your bills on time?
• How much debt are you currently carrying?
• How long have you been using credit?
• Have there been recent delinquencies, collections, or public records?

Because mortgage and home equity loans are typically large, long-term obligations, lenders place significant weight on this information.

When you access your own credit report, it typically results in a soft inquiry, which:

• Does not impact your credit scores
• Is usually only visible to you, not considered by lenders as a sign of new credit risk

By contrast, when a lender pulls your report as part of a formal application or credit decision, that’s generally a hard inquiry, which:

• May have a small, temporary impact on your scores
• Is visible to other lenders for a period of time

Ordering your own report to prepare for a mortgage or home equity application is usually safe from a credit score standpoint, because it’s a soft inquiry.

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Myth 1: “Checking my own credit report will hurt my score.”

• Fact: Viewing your report yourself usually results in a soft inquiry, which does not affect your scores.

Myth 2: “All credit scores are the same.”

• Fact: There are many types and versions of credit scores. Mortgage lenders often use specific models that may differ from those provided by consumer apps or websites.

Myth 3: “Closing old accounts will always improve my credit.”

• Fact: Closing long-standing accounts can, in some situations, reduce your available credit and shorten your average account age, which may negatively impact your scores.

Myth 4: “If I have a high income, my credit doesn’t matter much.”

• Fact: Income and credit history are separate. Even high-income borrowers can be declined or receive less favorable terms if their credit history shows high risk.

Myth 5: “I can’t fix anything, so checking is pointless.”

• Fact: Many issues are fixable over time. Correcting errors, paying down revolving debt, and establishing consistent on-time payments can make a meaningful difference.