1) Landlords, employers and insurance companies investigate your credit history before giving you credit.

2) Not paying your bills on time will never affect your credit.

3) Bad credit may affect whether or not you can purchase a car.

4) You may not be able to purchase a home or rent an apartment if you have bad credit.

5) Having a checking or savings account does not help to establish credit.

6) A credit report describes not only credit history, but address, social security number, public record information and payment history.

7) Before you are approved for a loan, mortgage companies evaluate your credit based on payment history, amount of debt payments, equity position, bankruptcies and credit score.

8) You cannot dispute the accuracy of your credit file if it says that you have bad credit.

9) Your ability to repay is one factor that lenders review before giving you credit.

10) Using department store credit cards can establish good credit.

11) You should apply for as much credit as possible, all at once.

12) APR stands for Annual Payment Rate.