Guide
How to read your credit report
Credit reports look intimidating, but they have only four sections. Here's what each one means and what to check before you dispute anything.
Educational information only — not legal advice.
1. Personal information
Your name(s), addresses, date of birth, and employers. Bureaus often list variations — a misspelled name alone isn't worth disputing, but an address you've never lived at can signal a mixed file (someone else's accounts on your report), which is worth challenging.
- Addresses you don't recognize — possible mixed file.
- Employers listed incorrectly (low stakes, but note it).
2. Accounts (tradelines)
The bulk of the report: every credit card, loan, mortgage, and collection account, each with the creditor name, account number (often partially masked), balance, credit limit, open/closed status, and payment history — usually a grid showing each month's status. This is where most errors live.
- Accounts that aren't yours at all.
- Late payments you actually made on time.
- Wrong balances, credit limits, or account status (open vs. closed).
- The same debt listed twice — e.g., by the original creditor and a collector.
- Accounts still showing a balance after you paid them off.
- Negative items older than 7 years (10 for bankruptcies) — obsolete under FCRA §605.
3. Inquiries
Hard inquiries — from applications for credit — stay visible for 2 years and can slightly affect scores. Soft inquiries (pre-approvals, your own checks, employer screens) don't affect scores. Dispute hard inquiries you never authorized; you can't dispute legitimate ones just because you'd like them gone.
- Hard inquiries from applications you never made.
4. Public records and collections
Bankruptcies appear here; tax liens and civil judgments no longer appear on reports from the three major bureaus. Collection accounts usually appear under accounts, showing the collector, the original creditor, the amount, and the date assigned. Watch for re-aged collections — a newer delinquency date than the original, which illegally stretches the 7-year reporting window.
- Collections with a newer date than the original delinquency.
- Paid collections still showing an unpaid balance.
What to do with what you find
Mark every error, gather proof (payment records, statements — copies, never originals), and dispute each item in writing with the bureau under FCRA §611. Bureaus have 30 days to investigate. If an item comes back "verified," you can demand the verification procedure in writing (§611(a)(7)), dispute directly with the furnisher (§623), or file a CFPB complaint.
Read the step-by-step dispute process · Or upload your report and let CreditDisputeCo flag the errors free