Welcome to the first of a series of "how to" guides designed to help consumers understand the information on their report credit.
In this guide, we'll walk through a sample credit report online version that is offered by Experian FreeCreditReport.com. We'll explain how to read each section of the report and how to spot potential errors that can lower your credit score and cost you money or impact on your financial life in other ways.
Like most other reports and credit monitoring services, Experian offers consumers the opportunity to purchase what is known as a relative or "3 in 1" "three desktop" credit that includes information from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Keep in mind that if you buy a credit report three bureau Experian, we strongly suggest because it will give you an overview of how lenders see you in three offices, information from Equifax and TransUnion sections of the report have been provided by the respective offices.
so even if you will be able to see the side of the information side all disputes non-Experian information will be taken directly to the appropriate credit bureau. in future installments of our series "How to read, analyze and challenge credit reports" we will explain how to examine information from Equifax and TransUnion.
If you do not already have your Experian credit report you can get instant online access to Experian or a credit report from each office three or total FreeCreditReport.com CreditCheck. Both services provide you a free Experian credit report, free credit score Experian and a free trial of credit monitoring service that will help you keep an eye on any changes to your credit file. For two CreditCheck Total and FreeCreditReport.com have free trials (7 and 30 days respectively) you can register without any risk.
You are also entitled to a free credit report per year from annualcreditreport.com. Keep in mind that credit reports ordered by annualcreditreport.com do not include a credit score, which is a good indicator of your overall health credit.
That said, lets dive into your Experian credit report ...
Section # 1: Personal profile
The purpose of this section your credit report is to document your personal information such as name (s), age, address and labor history.
The specific information contained in this section includes:
- Full legal name
- All other names you can or have previously used to obtain credit
- Year of birth
- current and previous addresses
- current and previous employers
Here are some important things to look for in this section:
- Make sure that your name is displayed correctly and that all the alternate names or aliases are accurate. If there are other listed names you have never used then it could be a sign that Experian has confused your credit file with another user with the same or similar names.
- Make sure your birth year is correct. Again, an error in this section of your credit report could mean that you are confused with another consumer.
- Make sure that there is no address where you have never lived or employers you have never worked for companies listed in the respective sections. Keep in mind that take time some time for these sections to update when you move to a new residence or take a new job. For this reason, it is OK if the information is outdated, as it is still correct. For example, if you have recently changed jobs and your credit report still lists a former employer that your current employer that is not a problem. However, if your credit report were to show that you currently or previous worked for an employer for whom you were never used then you may have a problem.
Section 2: Credit Summary
The purpose of this section is to provide a quick overview of your current credit history and before showing the total number of open and closed accounts for credit in your name, your outstanding balance to the different types of credit accounts in your name and history of delinquent accounts.
This section lists a variety of information of all your credit accounts. The types of accounts in this section include:
- Real - this section includes the accounting for property you purchased. For example, your mortgage account would be included in this section.
- revolving - credit accounts this section includes renewables such as credit cards. They are called revolving accounts because even though they may have an upper limit on what can be borrowed at one time, you can use as much credit you have available.
- Deposit - This section includes the fixed amount of credit accounts such as car loans. the payment of accounts are usually a fixed amount and are paid over time.
- Other - this section includes additional accounts that do not fit into any other category types .
- Collections - this section includes all accounts, regardless of type, that were sent to collections because of non-payment .
- All - totals for all your credit accounts .
For each type of credit account listed above this section lists the following information:
- Count - the total number of type credit accounts that have been reported to Experian throughout your credit history record. This includes open and closed accounts. For example, if the number of your installment accounts is '2' then this would mean that Experian has data on two different installment accounts in your name even if some of these accounts were closed by you or the creditor.
- balance - the balance of all accounts of a particular type. This is what you have to all creditors of this particular type of credit account according to information reported to Experian and will be listed as an amount in actual dollars.
- Current -. The total number of open accounts that were reported to Experian your name and paid timely by your contract with a particular creditor
- Delinquent - the total number of "backlog" of accounts that have been reported Experian on your behalf. These accounts are currently open, but are not paid on time. Creditors will usually report a delinquent account to Experian if it has been paid for at least 90 days but can technically be reported earlier.
- Other - what is the balance of the remaining accounts that are not ongoing or deliquent. This number usually includes accounts that have been closed by you or by the creditor.
Here are some important things to look for in this section:
- Make sure that the number of accounts of a specific type, total accounts or total sales do not seem higher than they should be.
- Ensure that the number and dollar amount of overdue accounts for each type of credit seems accurate. This is an important area to focus on because mistakes creditors or opened fraudulently in your name by identity thieves accounts are likely to become delinquent accounts before they are sent to collections. Catching overdue accounts early, you can prevent them from being sent to collections that may have a significant negative impact, and often a higher cost to you.
- Make sure that the number of collection accounts seems accurate. Once an account is sent to collections it will start to have a significant negative impact on your credit score. You have simply not been able to pay your bills, the creditor has made a reporting error, or if you have been a victim of identity thieves collections section must be carefully analyzed for accuracy.
If you see errors in all areas of the Summary section of credit, you should go immediately to the account history of your credit report which will have more detailed information on an account account basis. This will help you better check whether your credit report contains errors.
Section 3: Public Records
The purpose of this section is to document all federal records bankruptcy district records, the State and the County Court, the tax liens and monetary judgments that were levied against you. In some states child support in arrears is also reported in this section. Public Record items will generally remain on your credit report for 7 to 10 years.
The specific information contained in this section includes :.
- Type - classification of public records
- date - when the public folder was filed with the applicable agency .
- reference number -. Registration ID number
- Court - the court archives .
- The plaintiff -. The party who brought the action against you
- liability - the amount the court found you had to pay (usually included only with bankruptcy products) .
- Amount of assets -. The dollar amount of personal assets used by the court in its judgment (usually only included with the bankruptcy of products)
Here are some important things to look for in this section :.
- Ensure that all public folder items are accurate
Section 4: Credit Inquiries
the purpose of this section is to show that companies have requested your credit report from Experian. This includes voluntary surveys, or hard inquiries and involuntary, or soft ,. Experian handles hard and soft requests very differently.
hard inquiries:
- are generated as a result of action taken by you as complete a credit, insurance, mortgage or other loan or due to the transfer of a account by the creditor collections.
- Stay on your Experian credit report for two years from when they are first reported.
- are visible to creditors when they review your credit report.
sweet surveys:
- are generated when a company pulls your credit report to assess you for a credit offer that you did not ask. Pre-approved offers of credit card companies that you receive in the mail are usually generated as a result of a fresh survey by the creditor who sent the offer to you, for example.
- have no impact on your credit report or credit score.
- are not visible to anyone other than you.
For each application, either a hard or soft inquiry, the following information will be listed :.
- The name of the company who requested the investigation
- The type of business that the company operates. For example, if you completed credit card application with your bank the resulting investigation would be listed as "Banks & S & Ls'.
- The date of the investigation has been requested.
Here are some important things to look for in this section:
- Make sure that all inquiries are accurate hard. If you do not recognize the name of a company listed in this section, then research to find out whether or not you actually open a credit check with them. Keep in mind that some organizations have consumer brand names that are different from their actual company names, so you may not recognize the names in the report, even if it is a valid inquiry. the company name search in an Internet search engine like Google or Yahoo is a good way to know who they are.
- Be sure to note the total number of hard inquiries and their dates. Since consult hard to stay on your credit report for two years and have a negative impact on your credit report and your credit score, it is good to be aware of the number and age difficult investigations that have been reported Experian.
If you find difficult investigations do not appear to be specific, it is best to contact the company that made the request first. The creditor may do research for the purpose of the investigation and help you get it removed from your credit report if it was wrongly reported to Experian.
Although soft inquiries will not affect your credit report or credit score anyway, because they are visible only to you, there are ways to eliminate or at least limit the number requests for flexible information you receive. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows consumers to opt-out of receiving pre-screened credit offers by calling 888-567-8688 or by visiting optoutprescreen.com.
Section 5 :. Account History
The purpose of this section is to provide detailed information on all credit accounts you've opened that were reported to Experian
For each account contained in this section some or all of the following information will be listed :.
- Account name - the name of the creditor
- Account number -a truncated version of your account number with the creditor. For example, the last four digits of a credit card account number would be listed so that you can identify the account is referenced.
- account type - the type of credit that creditor provides. This will be one of the categories of the summary section of your credit report credit.
- account status - the current status of your account with a creditor, such as open or closed .
- Monthly payment - the amount you pay each month on your terms with the creditor. It will be used for installment and real estate accounts but not revolving accounts.
- Open Date -. The month, day, and year that the creditor has opened this account with you
- Balance - the outstanding amount you still owe the creditor .
- Conditions -
- High balance -. The highest amount that you had that creditor in the life of an account
- Limit - the amount of credit that creditor extends to you. For example, this would be your credit limit on a credit card account.
- Past due - the amount of money that is paid, but due to the creditor by the terms of your account. for example, if you have $ 500 per month on a car loan, but your payment is 30 days late the creditor could report this amount as past due to Experian.
- payment status - the general condition of your account in the form of comments. For example, an open account in good standing may be reported as "Country account as agreed" on your Experian credit report.
- Comments - additional information the creditor's account. Creditors can use this field for a number of comments that it is often used to detail the type of account, such as "credit card" to further specify the type of account it is.
This section also includes a 24-month payment history for each account listed that gives potential creditors to understand how you kept on your existing accounts. This information is plotted with one of several possible images placed in each month to show your account performance in this month.
The information that is reported in the history payment account includes :.
- OK - This account is paid on time and in full
- NO - No data is available for a given month. This is usually because either the account has not been opened or the creditor has not reported the information to Experian in a given month.
- 30/60/90/120 - The number of days the account was past due .
- KD - This stands for "derogatory Key" that can mean many things, including: claim, default term, the claim of the government, paid by the dealer, bankruptcy chapter 7, 11 or 12 petitioned, or absolved and bankruptcy chapter 7, 11, or 12 reaffirmation of the canceled debt.
- RF -. Property related to this account has been repossessed or seized
- PP - The creditor has established a revised payment plan with you .
Here are some important things to look for in this section:
- Ensure that the information in this section is accurate. Be especially close detail for any information relating to delinquency, or collections of overdue accounts, either in the area of account details or 24 month payment history that all these things negatively impact your credit report and your credit score.
- Make sure all your accounts in good standing are represented. Not all creditors report to all account information to the credit bureaus, Experian then can not have access to information on all the information in your account positive (of course, this means they can not have access to account information both negative). If you do not see an account contained in your Experian credit report that you believe to be in order and contact your creditor and ask them if they report information to your account to Experian.
- Make sure you recognize all creditors and accounts listed in this section. All unrecognized accounts could mean that your financial information may have been compromised and that identity thieves may have opened accounts in your name.
Keep in mind that different creditors report information to Experian in different cycles so that certain information, such as the balance on your account, can not be completely up to date. This is OK as long as you have verified that it is an account that you recognize and that the information listed was correct at some point in the recent past. If you do not see this type of update information over time, it is a good idea to contact your creditor to see if there are problems with your account or request that the timetable that they report your account information to Experian.
How to dispute information on your credit report Experian
If you find information you believe is inaccurate on your credit report, it is important to act quickly because these errors may not only cost you money, but could also be signs of early Waring possible identity theft. Fortunately, Experian actually quite simple to dispute any credit report item you believe to be inaccurate.
Here are the steps to follow to dispute an item on your Experian credit report:
- Make sure you have a copy of your Experian credit report that is dated within the last 90 days. The report date is very important because Experian will not let you challenge any information from more than 90 days reports.
- The dispute resolution form online visit Experian to https://www.experian.com/consumer/cac/InvalidateSession.do?code=DISPUTE
- Complete the following fields on the dispute form:
- report number -. it will be on the first page or the first of your Experian credit report
- Your social security number
- Your state
- Your postal code
- Click on the three boxes to accept all terms and conditions. Keep in mind that only the person whose credit report is disputed may submit this form.
- Enter the account number of the item you are disputing. You will find the account number in the account history section of your Experian credit report.
- An explanation of why you think the topic is inaccurate. You should be as descriptive as possible. Just say "This is wrong" or something similar will not be enough. You must provide specific reasons why you think the information on your Experian credit report is incorrect and any evidence support that you may have.
- Experian will review your application and notify you within 30 days (45 days if you received a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com) of their decision on the dispute. If the dispute is resolved in your favor, Experian remove or correct information that is inaccurate or can not be verified during the investigation.
In addition to dispute inaccurate information with Experian, we strongly suggest you contact the company that reported the account information to them first. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) both the credit bureau and the company that reported the information are responsible for the accuracy of the account information on your credit report. If you think one of your creditors has reported inaccurate information then contact them directly. Each company has a different process of dispute resolution, but it is a good idea to contact their customer service at first because they will likely be able to provide you with the appropriate action.
Conclusion
Your credit report is like your resume to prospective lenders. It provides an overview of the positive and negative aspects of your credit history based on information from your previous creditors. It is important not only to limit the number of negative items on your report by practicing credit usage patterns in good health, but to ensure that you have an overview of any incorrect or inaccurate information potential as these errors can cost you thousands of dollars or more.
We invite you to visit our online credit report comparison guide control services where you can learn more about credit reports and monitoring of a variety of service providers.
We hope this guide has been a useful tool to help you better understand the information on your Experian credit report and, equally important, to have a better idea of how potential lenders may see you . Stay tuned for our next installment we'll cover the specifics of the review your Equifax credit report.
In the meantime, let us know if you have comments about this guide or if you have additional questions you may have on your Experian credit report leaving us a note in the comments.