Understanding Your Credit Report
Understand the information contained within a consumer credit report.
Tradelines
What a tradeline is and what each field on a tradeline represents.
Payment History
How month-by-month payment status is reported and read.
Collections
How collection accounts appear on a report and what makes them distinct from original tradelines.
Charge-Offs
What a charge-off means and how it interacts with balance and status fields.
Account Status
The difference between account status and payment status, and why both matter.
Date of First Delinquency (DOFD)
The single most important date on a delinquent account and how it drives the reporting window.
Credit Utilization
How balances relative to limits are reported and interpreted.
Hard Inquiries
When a hard inquiry is placed and how long it may appear on your report.
Soft Inquiries
Soft inquiries, who can see them, and how they differ from hard inquiries.
Public Records
The narrow set of public record items that can still appear on a modern consumer credit report.