Glossary

The original amount of money, minus interest and fees, you borrowed in a loan.

This refers to a soft credit inquiry that a potential creditor or lender makes from limited credit data to pre-approve you for a loan.

This is information on a credit report that is limited to lawsuits and judgments that related to consumer debt obligations.

This is information that any person can access. Examples of public records are bankruptcy, overdue child support, foreclosure, and tax liens. These can be very

A value computed by a creditor that represents the percentage of income used for a household’s total debt including housing debt.

When a person is taking out a car loan or mortgaging a home, they can “shop” rates with little harm to their credit. If this

This is an agreement between a debtor and a lender wherein the debtor agrees to take responsibility for a debt after bankruptcy so that they

This is the process of changing a delinquency staus on a credit report. This can occur when a borrower and lender work out a new

The most up to date balance owed on an account which the creditor reports.