Pulling and reading your credit report

What to look for on your report

Your credit report isn't your score. The score is a number. The report is the record of every account, payment, and inquiry. Lenders read the report.

You get a free report from each bureau (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) every week at annualcreditreport.com. It's the official government source.

About 20% of reports contain errors. Fixing yours is often the fastest way to add 20 to 50 points.

Key points

Go to annualcreditreport.com. The only federally authorized free source. Ignore ads for other "free" services that upsell.
Pull one bureau every four months. Rotating gives you year-round monitoring free. Experian January, Equifax May, TransUnion September.
Check for errors first. Accounts you don't recognize, wrong balances, wrong late payments, duplicates. All common. All hurt your score.
Dispute errors in writing. Write the bureau AND the creditor. They have 30 days. If they can't verify, it must be removed.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, bureaus have 30 days to investigate. If they can't verify, it must be removed. Federal law, not a suggestion.