How to Read Your Credit Report
What is on your report
A credit report has four sections: personal information (name, addresses, employers), accounts or tradelines (each credit card and loan with its limit, balance, and payment history), inquiries (who pulled your credit), and negative items (late payments, collections, public records). The report is the raw data your credit score is calculated from.
How to get it free
You are entitled to free reports from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, the official site. Pull all three, since lenders do not always report to each. This is different from a credit score, which many card issuers show free; see credit report vs score.
Check for errors
Mistakes are common: accounts that are not yours, wrong balances or limits, a payment marked late that was on time, or a debt that should have aged off. Each can hurt your score, so review carefully and dispute any errors. Fixing report mistakes is one of the few ways to improve your score quickly.
Frequently asked questions
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