What is a Consumer Credit Report

A consumer credit report is a record of how you have paid your credit card debt and other loans. A credit report shows how much debt you have, if you have made payments on time, or if you have not paid back some loans at all. Credit reports do not show information about your race, religion, medical history, personal lifestyle, political preferences, criminal record or any other information unrelated to credit.

Credit reports are compiled by national credit reporting agencies.
The typical credit report includes four types of information:

Identifying Information: name, current and previous addresses, telephone number, Social Security number, date of birth, current and previous employers. This information comes from your credit applications.
Credit Information: specific details about your credit cards, student loans, and other loans. This information includes the date opened, credit limit or loan amount, balance and monthly payment. Payment history during past several years, and names of anyone else responsible for paying account, such as spouse or a co-signer. Late payments, skipped payments, accounts turned over for collection, and repossessions appear here. This information comes from companies you do business with.
Public information: Bankruptcies, foreclosures, tax liens for unpaid taxes, monetary court judgments (lawsuits) and in some states, overdue child support.
Inquiries: the names of those who obtained a copy of your credit report and how often you have applied for credit in the past two years.