compare credit report – transunion experian equifax

Mel Jensen asked:


When you look at your credit report for the first time, it may seem like your reading something in a foreign language. But the truth is your reading detail and numbers that may hold the key to your future. It is important that you take the time to read your report carefully and clearly. This will help you understand how the information it contains is affecting your credit score.

Start with the basics on your report. Verify that all of the information contained under your personal information. Although it won’t really affect your credit score, it is important that the information is accurate. If you see information that is not yours, then you will want to dispute that information. False information can lead to someone using the information to gain access to your personal information. Then you will become a victim of Identity Theft.

After you have reviewed the personal information and marked which items need to be disputed, then you can start by looking at each listing on your credit report.

Each listing will have several parts of information being reported. The first part being reported is the details on the account. The date that the account was opened, dollar amount of the account (or High Limit), monthly balance on the account, who the account is with and then finally any payments made to the account that were on time or late. The next part of the information being reported is the payment history. This information may be listed from 24 to 48 months. It will show during that time what, if any, payments were made late. Any information on your credit report that appears negatively such as a late payment can lead to negative reporting and a bad credit score. Bad credit will hurt you as many things today are being based on your credit score.

On the first part of the information, it is important that you verify the date that the account was opened. The account starting date can help your credit score by being older. If the account was off by 1 year it could affect your credit score by quite a bit. So you want to keep track of when you start accounts. Make sure that the credit bureaus report them correctly. Dispute any dates that are incorrect and make sure that they get updated to the right dates.

Now you also want to make sure that your credit limit is being reported correctly. If you have a limit on your credit card of $15,000 but it shows that your limit is only $10,000 then this difference will hurt your credit score. Even a limit of $2000 but showing $1000 will hurt your credit score. So make sure that your limit is correct and again, dispute the limit if it is not correct.

You have verified the date and limit on the account, so now it is time to review your balance. Your credit score is based on Age of the Account and the next part is the Debt to Credit ratio. The ratio is based on what your credit limit is compared to the balance you are carrying on your account. To get the best assistance to your credit score keeping the ratio less than 30% is best. So if you have a limit of $1000, you should not carry a balance of more than $300 to keep your account helping your credit score. If you can do each account independently then that is best, but you could just add all of the accounts together and then add together all of the limits on the accounts will tell you what your “total” ratio will be. That is why the credit limit and balance on the accounts are so critical to make sure that they are accurate.

Finally, you should review any late payments that were made. If you made some payments late and know that you did, then you can verify if the late payments are accurate. If you made payments on line, then you can verify the dates as well. But if you made payments by check and mailed them in, you will have a difficult time determining exactly what date the creditor received your payment. Checking your statement to see when the check cleared the bank will be the only confirmed date that you can back up. By making payments online, you will get confirmation numbers and dates of when payments were received. It is better for you to setup online banking whenever possible to help you keep up on your payments.

So reading your credit report is basically very easy. Check your personal information, then review the account details and finally check your payment history. Once you have those things accurate you can be sure that your credit report is as accurate as it can be. The more accurate the report the better for you. Reports with lots of discrepancies can be a problem, not only for you, but also for any lenders considering giving you a new credit account.

Accuracy is critical for all consumers concerning their credit report. 79% of everyone who has a credit report has some inaccuracies on their report. Taking the time to dispute and correct your report will make your credit report better for everyone. Take the time once a year to review your report and dispute anything that is not accurate.



Marlene