With jobs  being at a low and foreclosures being at a high- your credit score is what could postpone your purchase on a home. Being educated on your credit score will help to avoid bad credit scores.  A credit score is calculated at credit bureaus to determine your creditworthiness. Lenders will use your credit score to determine the risk they will take lending a person money. This will determine your acceptance of a loan, your interest rate, and credit limit. Credit scores are not only a factor when it comes to buying a home, but could affect a potential job, insurance, and even purchasing a cell phone.
    Some thing everyone should know is that everyone has a right to receive a free credit report from a credit bureau every twelve months. The factors that you will find on your credit score are: Identification, Payment History, Inquires, and Public record information.
    Your information that will be included in the Identification  section will include your name, birth date, Social Security number, employers, and spouse’s name. It will also include your employment history, home ownership, income, and previous addresses.
    Your payment history will list your accounts you have with different creditors. Your report will also show your credit limits and if you were successful on making payments on time. And if you have not paid on time here is where you will find accounts that have been sent to a collection agency.
    Inquires are anyone who has pulled your credit in the last year. This would included inquires if you have applied for anything in which your credit could be pulled. This could be as simple as purchasing a cell phone or asking for a line of credit from a furniture store. Inquires could also come from an application of employment. These types of inquires could be traced back two years.
    Public records would include any event that are a matter of public record. This can include bankruptcies, foreclosures, or tax liens.
    Everyone should be aware of their credit score and what there credit report looks like. This could help you in situations where a incident is accidentally put on your report. Also this is a sure fire way to prevent you from severe identity theft.