A Guide to Reading Your Credit Report

All consumers are being advised by the FTC to become aware of their credit reports to avoid identity theft and credit card fraud. The first step is to order a copy of your credit report from three credit report bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion).

In this post, let's discuss the key points on reading your credit report and the steps that you can do to fix possible errors.

What Your Credit Report Contains

The consumer credit report is categorized in four segments- your personal identity, payment history, public records and inquiries. When you receive a copy of your credit file, carefully review the details of your information. Consider these warning signs that of a possible fraud or identity theft.

Inquiries from creditors you did not apply to. Do you see credit report inquiries from loan companies or credit card issuers that you never send an application to? If yes, someone else might be trying to open an account using your identity. Call up each company to clarify these inquiries.

Change of your home address or employment address. Sometimes, there may be a misspelled word or missing digit in your residential or mailing address. You should ask such typographical errors to be corrected immediately.

Nevertheless, if your residential or mailing address has been changed without your knowledge, someone may have called up your bank or creditor and made the request using your identity. Identity thieves do this to keep the real account holder from receiving bills or mails from creditors. This way, the consumer will not be alerted about their illegal transactions.

Strange activities in your old accounts. Do you notice charges in your old accounts that you rarely use? If yes, someone else may be making those charges under your name. Call up the creditor involved right away to ask about those unfamiliar transactions.

Strange remarks in your public records section. This should remain entry unless you've had tax liens, foreclosure, bankruptcy or any court judgments in the last seven years. If there is a remark that should not be there, you must notify the credit bureau that issued your report immediately.

Past due charges. Are there charges in your credit card account that is not at all familiar to you? If you've been paying your credit card bills on time, someone may be making those purchases illegally. Write a dispute letter and send it both to the creditor involved and the credit reporting bureau. Enclose copies of documents that support your claim and wait for at least 10 days to get a response from your creditor and the credit reporting agency. If 10 days have passed and you haven't received any reply, it is now time to send a follow-up dispute letter.

As soon as the credit reporting agency have received your letter, their next step is to conduct an investigation regarding your complaint. It can take up to 30 days for the investigation to complete. Afterwards, the credit agency must send you a letter informing the result of the investigation along with the updated copy of your free credit report.

Author Resource:- For people who want to learn how to repair their own credit, Suzy Vanstrusen, a credit analyst and a writer of EzCreditRepairSolutions.com, has been providing consumers with tips and tricks in repairing your credit. Check the site for more free credit repair and credit report score.