You're listening to the Debt Podcast with bankruptcy and consumer law attorney, Jay Fleischman.

"We want information."

At the Debt Podcast we'll give you all the information you need to help you learn more about consumer issues, credit reporting, dealing with debt collectors, keeping yourself out of debt, increasing your personal wealth, and bankruptcy and debt relief options.

"Do you have any experience?"

"No sir I have no experience, but I'm a big fan of money. I like it. I use it. I have a little. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator. I'd like to put more in that jar. That's where you come in."

Send your feedback or questions to debtpodcast@gmail.com or check out the show notes at debtpodcast.blogspot.com.

And now, without any further adieu, on with the show.

Happy Thursday everybody, and thanks for tuning in and staying subscribed to the show. If you know anybody else who may have some interest in personal finance, debt, credit, consumer issues or anything else we talk about, you can always point them to our feed at feeds.feedburner.com/debtpodcast. Well, we're going to jump right into the show today. It has been a while since the last show, when we talked about getting a copy of your free annual credit report. Today we're going to discuss what you do now that you've gotten a free copy of your annual credit report. And what you do at this stage is very, very important. You need to read your credit report. I know that it's frightening for many people. It's off putting, it is something that you don't typically do. You don't necessarily know what you're looking for. If you look at your credit report, you are going to see a number of distinct portions of that report. And even though there are three major credit reporting agencies, and therefore, three different credit reports that you can receive, and that you should be receiving, what I'm going to do is walk you through an Experian report. They're all laid out very much in the same fashion. I just happen to have an Experian report right next to me at the moment.

The first part of your credit report indicates potentially negative items, or items for further review. Those items are going to include public records. Public records will include lawsuits, judgments filed against you, tax liens, if you filed for bankruptcy, that will appear there as well. In other words, public records are any documents that are placed on file with any court in the United States. It will indicate where the record was filed, when it was filed, the index number, the amount of the claim, and the current status...
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