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This interactive guide displays an example of a personal credit report and explains how each part works.
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You can get a free credit report, but do you know how to read and understand it? This interactive guide will help you determine the most effective way to acquire your report and how to read and understand it once you receive it.
Everyone is entitled by law to look at their credit report from each of the three credit bureaus free of charge once every 12 months, or you can buy a credit report from each of the three bureaus if you want to view your report more often.
The three large U.S. credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – were required by a 2003 federal law to set up AnnualCreditReport.com as a central online resource for report requests. You can also request your reports by calling 877-322-8228 or by downloading a request form and mailing it to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Upon visiting AnnualCreditReport.com, users are directed to a form page and asked to provide personal identifying information, including name and address, Social Security number and date of birth.
After submitting your basic information, you go to a page allowing you to select reports from the three large credit bureaus by checking boxes next to the Equifax, Experian and TransUnion logos. You can select one or all of the credit bureaus. Instructions discuss whether you should review all three reports immediately, or whether you should spread the requests over a period of time.
The next step is designed to verify your identity. A page of questions appears about your creditors, loan terms or other details on the credit report that you’re expected to know. You need to select the correct answers get access to the credit report. The AnnualCredit.Report.com site is integrated with the websites of the credit bureaus, making the transition from one to the other seamless. After requesting one report, you may return to the main site to repeat the process with another credit bureau.
If you use up your free credit report and want to check again for some reason, you can pay about $20 for each report. Or, you can get a free TransUnion credit report from CreditCards.com.
Many consumers have a difficult time understanding their credit reports and piecing the three reports together, so here are examples and explanations of the most common elements that appear in each of the three free credit bureau reports.
Personal information is identifying information about the credit report requestor. Experian and TransUnion include this information at the beginning of your credit report, while Equifax puts it at the end of its report.
A report number is generated by the three credit reporting agencies as a reference for consumers to use if they should need to contact the issuing bureau. Note this number when you need to contact Equifax, Experian or TransUnion online, by phone or by mail.
During the AnnualCreditReport.com signup process, you can choose to have the report display your entire Social Security number or — to protect your identity — just the last four digits.
Check to make sure your address information is accurate.
Only some employers will report your employment information to one or all of the credit bureaus. Don’t panic if all your employment information is not recorded on this report. You can contact the individual credit bureaus to correct misreported employment data.
Public records are court judgments, wage garnishments, liens and bankruptcy files that may be reported to the credit bureaus.
Only TransUnion includes an estimate for the date that a public record will be removed from your credit report.
Adverse accounts, or potentially negative items, are credit accounts you have opened and have been reported as either unpaid or paid after a due date during one or more months throughout the history of the credit line. Even if you are current on your payments for a credit account, it still may be included in this section of your credit report — if you had ever missed or were late on a payment. All three bureaus allow you to dispute the information in this section if you can prove an error. Adverse accounts should fall off your credit report after 7 years, but you need to be sure that they do by checking your credit reports often and reporting overheld accounts.
Payment status is the current status of your adverse account. In this example, the account was paid in full after being sent to a collection agency.
Account type: Installment account
An installment account is a fixed line of credit that is paid over a certain period of time. Examples of installment accounts include bank loans, car loans and student loans.
In this example, the account is currently being reported as 120 days past due.
Account type: Revolving account
Revolving accounts are variable lines of credit with interest accrued based on the credit balance. Credit cards are revolving accounts.
If an item is suppressed on your credit report, it means that the credit reporting agency is withholding the account information from anyone besides you who requests your credit report. In this case, the item is being suppressed until the credit grantor, Discover Financial Services, updates the bureau about information that the bureau requested from them.
An installment account is a fixed line of credit that is paid over a certain period of time. Examples of installment accounts include bank loans, car loans and student loans.
Accounts in good standing, or satisfactory accounts, are accounts that have been reported to the credit bureau(s) as paid on time and in full during a reported period of time, typically up to 53 months.
Collateral is property that the credit account holder uses to secure a line of credit. In this example, a truck loan was granted, and the credit grantee agreed to surrender his truck if he is unable to pay the loan.
Pay status: Pays as agreed
Payment status is the current status of your adverse account. In this example, the account is being paid in full each month as agreed to in the credit terms.
Account type: Installment account
An installment account is a fixed line of credit that is paid over a certain period of time. Examples of installment accounts include bank loans, car loans and student loans.
Responsibility: Individual account
Date opened: 11/2013
Date closed: 11/2016
Date paid: 11/2016
| Revolving accounts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| CAPITAL ONE | |||
| P.O. Box 30281 Salt Lake City, UT 841300281 | |||
| Account Number: | 400XXXXXXXXXXXX | Pay | Pays as agreed |
| Account owner: | Individual account | High credit: | $4,304 |
| Type of account | Revolving | Credit limit | $10,500 |
| Date opened: | 06/08/2010 | Balance: | $965 |
| 81-month payment history | ||||||||||||
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2017 | ||||||||||||
| 2016 | ||||||||||||
| 2015 | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | ||||||||||||
| 2013 | ||||||||||||
| 2012 | ||||||||||||
| 2011 | ||||||||||||
| 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Historical account information | ||||||
| 03/2017 | 02/2017 | 01/2017 | 12/2016 | 11/2016 | 10/2016 | |
| Balance | 965 | 1095 | 2336 | 1161 | 1268 | 950 |
| Scheduled payment amount | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Actual payment amount | 1095 | 2336 | 1161 | 1268 | 950 | 744 |
| Date of last payment | 02/2015 | 01/2015 | 12/2014 | 12/2014 | 10/2014 | 09/2014 |
| Months before 10/2016 are not shown. | ||||||
Credit history requests include creditors who have requested your credit report.
The type of inquiry is the scope of credit history requested — whether a person’s credit history or an organization or business’s credit history. In this case, just an individual credit history report was requested.
Permissible purpose: Credit transaction
Credit bureaus require anyone requesting your credit history to provide the purpose for their credit history query. In this example, the creditor was requesting the credit history when considering whether to extend additional credit to the consumer.
Credit bureaus require anyone requesting your credit history to provide the purpose for their credit history query. In this example, the creditor was requesting the credit history for a potential renter.
A personal statement is a statement the consumer chose to have added to his or her credit report. Personal statements range from fraud alerts to consumer statements about being unemployed. A personal statement is a way for the consumer to add additional explanations about his or her credit history that might not otherwise be discerned from standard credit report information.
