Instructions on Interpreting Equifax Credit Bureau Reports

The Federal Trade Commission recommends that you check your credit reports to make sure your credit accounts are reported accurately. The Equifax credit bureau report has several different sections containing your credit accounts, collections, inquiries and public records. If you have never looked at a credit report before, it may be confusing to try to interpret the information on it.

Instructions

1

Open your Equifax paper credit report or go to Equifax's website to access your online credit report (see Resource). On the bottom left of the Web page, click on "Get your free annual credit report."

2

Browse the different sections of the credit report. Your personal information, such as your addresses and employers, is displayed on the main page. The rest of the Equifax report is split between the Accounts, Inquiries and Negative Information sections.

3

Click "Accounts" on the online report or find the Accounts section on your paper report. This section has all open and closed positive trade lines, or credit lines, added to your credit report. The account information includes the balance of the debt, minimum debt payments, the payment history and a truncated account number. The Accounts section is divided into four sections: Mortgages, for your mortgage accounts; Installation, for any installment loans; Revolving, for credit cards; and Other, for accounts that don't fit in these categories.

4

Click "Inquiries" or go to the Inquiries section on your paper credit report. This section is split into two parts: hard and soft inquiries. Hard inquiries are credit report requests pulled by a company when you apply for a credit account. These inquiries can affect your credit score. Soft inquiries do not affect your credit report and cannot be seen by creditors pulling your report. Soft inquiries include account reviews from your creditors, credit report requests you did personally and promotional inquiries.

5

Click or turn to the Negative Information section. This section contains negative accounts, collections and public records. Negative accounts include any accounts you have made a late payment on, as well as charged-off accounts that have not gone to collections. Collection accounts are any accounts sent from a creditor to a collection agency. Public records are judgments, liens, bankruptcies and other court records.