The credit reporting agencies are allowed to keep tabs on certain aspects of your financial history. Not only are they allowed to keep tabs on you, they can compile your credit information into reports and then sell your information to others who wish to evaluate the risk of doing business with you. While you may not like the idea of the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) being all up in your business, the truth is that if you understand the credit reporting and scoring system you can leverage that knowledge to your advantage. After all, earning great credit comes with some truly awesome perks and benefits.