What's in Your Equifax Credit Report?

By now, you probably know that you should check your credit report annually. You can do this by going to www.annualcreditreport.com to obtain free copies from each of the major agencies: Equifax, Transunion, and Experion.

All three credit reports contain essentially similar, and ideally idential, information about your credit history. This includes money you have borrowed through mortgages, unsecured debt such as credit cards, and loans with monthly payments such as a car loan or student loan. Here's specifically what you'll find when you pull your Equifax credit report.

Equifax divides the credit report into nine sections.

Part 1, the Credit Summary, highlights the information in the credit file that is most important in determining credit standing. The goal of this section is to distill key credit information about loans into an easy-to-read summary. Also covered are the age of accounts, credit inquiries, and potentially negative information. Mortgage accounts and closed accounts are also summarized in this section of the credit report.

Part 2, entitled Account Information, lists details on every single loan, mortgage, installment account (e.g., car loan), and every other credit account. Credit cards are listed as "revolving accounts." The name of the creditor, partial account numbers, date opened, balances, credit lines, and payment histories are listed. Both open and previously closed accounts are shown. If an account has been closed, the report states who requested the closure (you or another party) and the state of the account at the time it was closed.

The Inquiries section of the credit report lists requests for your credit history within the past two years. Inquiries that affect your credit rating are made by companies with whom you have applied for a loan or credit. Requests from employers, companies making promotional offers, and your own credit checks do not affect credit and are not reported to third parties requesting a copy of your credit report.

The Negative Accounts section records accounts that were not paid as agreed on. They remain on the credit history for seven years from the date they became past due. Acounts that have gone to collections are listed in the next section, Collections. Public Record Information includes bankruptcies, liens, or judgements and comes from state or county court records.

Personal Information lists your name, social security number, and current and former addresses. Other identification, employment history, alerts, and a consumer statement may be listed.

The next section of your credit report explains how to Dispute File Information that is incorrect. According to Equifax, the fastest way to dispute credit information is to do so online.

The final three sections are a Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA, Instructions on Remedying the Effects of Identity Theft, and Your Rights Under State Law.

One final note: when you pull your credit report from each of the three agencies, they will try to sell you additional credit monitoring services. These are not necessary, and you should feel free to decline them. You may, however, want to pay to obtain your FICO score.