How to read a credit report

Credit reports are dense and repetitive by design. Read them in the same order every time and the errors start jumping out.

Quick takeaways

Read the same four sections in the same order every time.
A missing credit limit silently wrecks your utilization.
Wrong names or addresses can mean a mixed file.

The four sections

Personal information; accounts (also called tradelines); public records and collections; and inquiries. Work through them in that order.

Fields that matter most

On each account: open date, date of first delinquency, current balance, high balance, credit limit, payment status and payment history grid. On collections: original creditor, amount, and date of first delinquency.

Where errors hide

Names and addresses that are not yours (a sign of a mixed file), accounts you do not recognize, a closed account showing a balance, a limit reported as zero (which inflates utilization), and delinquency dates that reset after a debt was sold.

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