How to Read Your Credit Report

Pull all three — they are not the same

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion each maintain separate files. A creditor may report to one, two, or all three, so an error can exist on one report and not the others. Get all three at AnnualCreditReport.com, the federally authorized source, and save them as PDFs with the date in the filename.

• Download all three on the same day so they're comparable
• Save a copy — you'll need it if you dispute
• Check them again about 45 days after any dispute

Section 1 — Personal information

This is the identity section: names and spellings, current and past addresses, dates of birth, employers, and sometimes phone numbers. Errors here are worth fixing because they are how someone else's account ends up mixed into your file.

• Names you've never used, or misspellings that resemble another person
• Addresses you've never lived at
• A Social Security number digit that's wrong
• Employers you never worked for

Section 2 — Accounts (tradelines)

This is the core of the report. Each account shows the creditor, account number (usually partial), open date, credit limit or original loan amount, current balance, monthly payment, account status, and a month-by-month payment history grid. Read every field, not just the status.

• Account status: open, closed, paid, charged off, included in bankruptcy
• Payment history grid: 30, 60, 90, 120+ days late markers by month
• Date of first delinquency — this controls when the item falls off
• Balance and credit limit — a missing limit can distort utilization
• Who closed the account: you or the creditor

Section 3 — Collections and public records

Collection accounts appear when a debt is sold or assigned. Sometimes both the original creditor and the collector report the same debt — one showing a balance owed and the other a zero balance is normal, but two accounts both showing a balance owed on the same debt may be double reporting.

• Check the original creditor name on every collection
• Compare the amounts and the date of first delinquency
• Court judgments and some public records may appear depending on bureau policy
• Medical collections have additional reporting limitations — check current bureau policy

Section 4 — Inquiries

Hard inquiries come from applications for credit and can affect your score; soft inquiries (your own checks, pre-screened offers, account reviews) do not. Hard inquiries you do not recognize can be a sign of identity theft.

What is actually disputable

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you can dispute information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or that the furnisher cannot verify. That is the legal standard — not whether the item is inconvenient.

• Accounts that aren't yours, including mixed-file errors
• Wrong balance, wrong credit limit, wrong open or closed date
• Late payments marked on months you actually paid on time
• A duplicate of the same debt reported twice as owed
• An item past the reporting period that should have aged off
• A status that doesn't match reality (e.g., paid shown as unpaid, discharged debt shown as owed)
• Accounts opened through identity theft

What will not come off

Accurate negative information generally stays for its full reporting period. Anyone who promises to remove accurate, verifiable items or guarantees a specific score increase is making a promise no one can keep. Clear Path never makes that promise: we prepare dispute and validation letters based on what you tell us is inaccurate, and outcomes are decided by the bureaus and furnishers.

Build your dispute list before writing anything

Go bureau by bureau and write down each item, why you believe it's wrong, and what proof you have. That list becomes your dispute letters and your tracker.

• Bureau, creditor name, account number ending, and the specific field that's wrong
• The reason: not mine, paid, wrong date, wrong amount, duplicate, too old
• Supporting documents: statements, payoff letters, cancelled checks, police report for identity theft
• The date you send each dispute, so you can track the 30-day window