How to Read Your Credit Report: A Step-by-Step Guide

Your credit report is a living file of your credit history: who you are, which accounts you’ve opened, how you’ve paid them, and who’s recently checked your credit. Reading it carefully helps you catch errors, spot identity-theft red flags, and understand why a score moved. The good news: you can now get free weekly reports from each of the three nationwide bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — at the official site, so you don’t have to pay to stay informed. In this guide, you’ll learn how to pull each report safely, how to navigate sections like “Accounts,” “Collections,” “Public Records,” and “Inquiries,” and how to dispute anything that’s wrong. You’ll also see what recent rules mean for medical debt, how long negative information typically lasts, and the difference between soft and hard inquiries. Along the way, we point to primary sources — the FTC, CFPB, AnnualCreditReport.com, and the bureaus — so you can use the right forms, addresses, and dispute channels when you need them. Once you’ve read one report carefully, the other two will feel familiar because the sections map closely. After your first pass, set a calendar reminder to check again in a few weeks and any time you apply for major credit. Keeping eyes on all three versions matters because one bureau can hold an error the others don’t.

Step 1 — Pull your three reports (safely) and save clean copies

Go to AnnualCreditReport.com, the site Congress mandated for free credit reports; avoid look-alikes that upsell paid monitoring. Request one report at a time (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) or all three at once; either way, you can return weekly if you want. Expect identity verification: multiple-choice questions about past addresses or loans that only you should know. If an online pull fails, use the site’s mail or phone options — you’ll still get the report at no cost.

Download each report as a PDF and name the files clearly (for example, “Experian_2025-10-09.pdf”) so you can compare month-to-month. Your free credit report won’t include a FICO or VantageScore by default; that’s normal. If you need a score for context, many banks and card issuers show one for free — note the score model and date on your saved copy. If you run into a login loop or a prompt to pay, back out and confirm you’re on the official site. Finally, keep a written list of any errors or surprises as you read; those notes will become your dispute checklist later.

Step 2 — Learn the anatomy of a report (so you know what you’re seeing)

Start with the Personal Information section: your names (current and prior), Social Security number variations, date of birth, and current and former addresses and employers. Look for typos, unknown addresses, or names that aren’t yours — these can be data-entry mistakes or an early sign of mixed files or ID theft.

Move to Accounts (tradelines). For each account, scan the creditor name, account number (masked), type (installment, revolving, mortgage), date opened, credit limit/original loan amount, current balance, payment status, and the month-by-month payment grid. “Pays as agreed” or “current” is good; 30/60/90-day codes indicate late payments (the older, the less impact). Check that closed accounts are marked “closed,” that limits and balances are accurate (important for utilization), and that dates opened/closed make sense.

Next, review Negative Items/Collections. Medical collections under $500 should have been removed starting April 2023; paid medical collections and those under a year old were also removed by industry changes. If an entry contradicts those rules, flag it for dispute with documentation. Public records now generally contain only bankruptcies (civil judgments and tax liens were removed years ago); verify chapter and filing dates.

Last, scan Inquiries: “soft” inquiries (your own checks, preapprovals) don’t affect scores and are hidden from lenders, while “hard” inquiries from applications can slightly lower scores for about a year, though they remain visible for up to two years. If you see a hard pull you don’t recognize, add it to your dispute list. Knowing which section you’re reading prevents unnecessary worry over harmless soft pulls.

Step 3 — Spot common errors quickly (a 10-point checklist)

Use a simple checklist as you read each report:

• Wrong personal data: misspelled names, unfamiliar addresses, or incorrect SSN variations can indicate a mixed file.
• Duplicate accounts: the same debt listed twice (for example, an original creditor and a collector both reporting the same balance).
• Status codes: current vs. 30/60/90 late, “charged off,” or “in collections” — make sure they match reality.
• Limits and balances: misreported limits can inflate utilization and drag down scores.
• Closed accounts: accounts you’ve paid off should be marked “closed” and not still showing as open and delinquent.
• Key dates: opened, closed, and first-delinquency dates; wrong dates can keep old negatives around longer than allowed.
• Unrecognized accounts: lines you never opened may signal identity theft.
• Bankruptcy details: if applicable, confirm chapter, filing date, and status against court records.
• Medical collections: check amounts and dates against industry policies removing under-$500, paid, and young medical debts.
• Existing disputes or alerts: confirm that any prior disputes, fraud alerts, or freezes are accurately noted.

Keep a running list of each issue with the exact line from the report; precision speeds corrections and makes your dispute letters much stronger.

Step 4 — Dispute what’s wrong (bureau + furnisher, with a 30-day clock)

You have a right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information. File with the bureau (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) that’s reporting the error and, when possible, also with the furnisher (the lender or collector that supplied it.)
Include your full name, address, report number, the specific item(s) in dispute, why it’s wrong, and copies (not originals) of evidence like statements, payoff letters, or ID-theft reports. Send by certified mail if you’re using postal mail and keep copies of everything.

As a rule, the bureau must investigate and generally respond within 30 days (45 in limited cases), forward relevant information to the furnisher, and correct or delete anything it can’t verify. If the furnisher confirms an error, related negative information should be updated across all bureaus that received the data. If the result is unsatisfactory, you can add a brief statement of dispute to your file and escalate to the CFPB. For medical debts, remember: under-$500 medical collections were already removed by the bureaus starting in 2023, but a 2025 CFPB rule to remove all medical debt was later struck down in court; dispute anything that remains but doesn’t meet current reporting rules or is inaccurate.

Step 5 — Use freezes and alerts if something looks fishy

If you see accounts or hard inquiries you didn’t authorize, consider two powerful, free tools. A fraud alert tells lenders to take extra steps to verify your identity before opening new credit; an initial alert lasts one year and is easy to place, while an extended alert lasts seven years if you have an FTC identity-theft report or police report.

A security freeze blocks most new credit checks from being approved until you lift it; it’s free to place, temporarily lift, or remove at each bureau, and it doesn’t affect existing credit use or your score. You must set a freeze separately at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion (each provides online, phone, and mail options). Many people keep a permanent freeze and briefly thaw it when they apply. If you’re active-duty military, ask about special protections. Pair these tools with strong account alerts (new-account and new-inquiry notifications) so you’re pinged if something changes. For identity theft, start a recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov and use the report as documentation in disputes.

What changed with medical debt (and what to check on your reports)

Medical debt reporting has been evolving. In 2022–2023, the three national bureaus stopped reporting paid medical collections, delayed reporting of new medical collections for one year, and removed medical collections under $500 entirely. In January 2025, the CFPB finalized a rule to remove all medical bills from credit reports and bar lenders from using them, but in July 2025 a federal court struck down that rule.

Bottom line today: under-$500 medical collections should still be gone because of the bureaus’ voluntary policies; larger or older medical collections may still appear unless inaccurate or otherwise invalid. If you see a medical collection that doesn’t fit current policy or has errors (wrong amount, paid status not reflected, older than seven years from the original delinquency), dispute it with documentation. Keep watching this space — policy can change again — but your best defense is regular, detailed reviews.

How inquiries appear (and how to interpret them)

Your report shows two types of inquiries. Soft inquiries include your own checks, preapprovals, and some background or insurance reviews; they do not affect scores and are usually hidden from lenders. Hard inquiries appear when you apply for credit and a lender pulls your report to make a decision; they’re visible to other lenders and can cause a small, temporary score dip that typically matters for about 12 months (though the entry can display for up to two years).

When shopping for a mortgage, auto loan, or student loan, scoring models group multiple inquiries within a short window as one “shopping” event — which is why batching applications within a couple of weeks is wise — but individual credit-card inquiries generally count separately. If you spot a hard pull you don’t recognize, treat it as a potential error or identity-theft signal and dispute it. TransUnion’s reader tools and the bureaus’ sample reports can help you learn the layout quickly if it’s your first time.