AptKeysMoney · Credit, reports and scores
Reading your credit report
You'll need
- Your Social Security number and date of birth
- Your addresses from the last two years
- A list of your cards, loans and phone or utility accounts, to compare against
- A pen, or a note on your phone, for anything that looks wrong
Do it like this
- Use the one official site. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only website authorized to fill orders for your free reports.
- Order all three. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each keep their own report on you, and lenders don't have to report to all of them.
- Get through the identity check. Have your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth ready.
- Check the personal information. Look at your name (and past names or nicknames), current and past addresses, birth date, Social Security number and phone numbers.
- Go account by account. Each account shows the type (installment like a car loan, or revolving like a credit card), the creditor's name, the credit limit or loan amount, the balance, the payment history, and the dates it was opened and closed.
- Check collections and public records. This section can list missed payments, debts sent to collections, overdue child support, liens, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and civil suits and judgments.
- Look at the inquiries. This is the list of companies that have pulled your report.
- Write down every problem: which bureau, the account name and number, and what's wrong. Then dispute it with the bureau that shows it and with the company that reported it, called the furnisher.
Watch out Look-alike sites advertise "free" reports and then sign you up for a paid plan. Only AnnualCreditReport.com fills orders for the free reports the law gives you. Also skip any company that charges upfront to "repair" your credit: no one can remove accurate negative information, and you can fix real errors yourself for free.
Dad note Read it like a bank statement you didn't write. Anything you don't recognize gets a question mark.