Instructions on Interperting Equifax Credit Bureau Reports

Your credit report and credit score can help you understand your financial fitness--the information present on a credit report helps determine your eligibility for things like home and car loans. There are three major credit reporting bureaus. One of these is Equifax, which is over 100 years old and based in Atlanta, Georgia. Obtaining your Equifax credit report easily, but understanding the information is what counts when you're studying credit history.

Instructions

1

Check your personal information, located at the very top of your Equifax credit report. If this information is not correct, then you may have received the wrong report. The correct information is a sign that you have located the correct report. You should also have a transaction code listed at the top of your report--this is a receipt that proves you received the requested report.

2

Look at each item under your account summary. The items that negatively affect your credit will be listed before the positive items, and they should be labeled. There should be a creditor listed, along with the date the debt was added to your credit report--both the month and the year should be present. This is called "Date Reported." Some debts will list the month and year the debt actually occurred under the heading "Date Assigned." You should also have a heading titled "Date of First Delinquency" that shows when you missed your first payment, if applicable.

3

Understand your balances owed as reported by Equifax. The report should list both "Original Amount Owed"--the amount you owed when the account was first reported as delinquent--and the "Balance Owed," which is the current amount you have to repay them. They will also list a "Last Payment Date" that shows whether you're currently making payments and a payment status; This will vary. Status "D" means that the debt is unpaid.

4

Review the "Comments" listed after each creditor. If this listing appears on your Equifax report, it should say whether the debt it medical, legal, or miscellaneous. This can help people reading your credit report to understand whether you went into debt over medical bills or by not paying your credit card bills. You should also have a section that details any inquiries into your Equifax report--these are a list of companies or individuals who have ordered a copy of your credit report within a certain amount of time.

5

Determine how each listing on your Equifax report is classified. You may have mortgage accounts--these are secured loans with real estate as collateral. Revolving accounts usually have payment that change every month, depending on what you spend, such as with credit cards. Status R1 means that you are current on your payments. Status R2 means that you've made a payment 30 to 60 days late. Installation accounts--those for car loans, for example--pay a set payment limit every month. For car payments, status I1 means that you're paying as agreed.