In this article:
You can request a copy of your Experian credit report from different sources, including getting a free copy online with monthly updates using an Experian account. When you review your credit report, the categories, names, format and order of information might differ depending on the version you're looking over. However, here are the types of information that you'll generally find in your Experian credit report.
Personal Information
Personal information is reported to Experian by you, your creditors and possibly other sources. Each source may report your information differently, which can result in variations. For example, if you fill out one application with your middle initial and another without, both variations of your name may appear on your credit report. Typos can also lead to variations.
The personal information in your credit report is used for identification purposes, so the variations won't affect your credit scores. However, you'll still want to review the section to make sure the information is accurate. Here are some examples of the types of personal information you might see on your credit report:
| Name(s) Associated With Your Credit | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lillie T. Consumer | Lillie Consumer | Lilly Consumer |
| Your credit report will list all of the name variations reported to us by your creditors, so both your current name and any previous names may appear. Name variations may be listed under an "Also Known As" heading. | ||
| Experian maintains all these names so you have a complete record of what has been reported. If you see a name appearing on your credit report that you have never used, you can request that the information be removed. But for your protection, names are typically not disputable online. |
| Social Security Number Variations |
|---|
| For your protection, the Social Security number you used to obtain your credit report is not displayed, so you should not see your correct Social Security number on the report. However, if any of your lenders have reported a different Social Security number than the one you gave us when you requested your credit report, those variations will be displayed. |
| Address(es) Associated With Your Credit | |
|---|---|
| 840 Any Rd Bldg. B City, State 12345 Address ID: 0546873687 Apartment Complex | 840 Any Rd City, State 12345 Address ID: 0546875675 Apartment Complex |
| Addresses are listed on your credit report when they are reported to Experian by your creditors. Any address that you have provided to a lender or that you have used to receive mail may appear on your report. For that reason, many people have work addresses, post office boxes and even the address of a friend or family member listed. This does not affect your creditworthiness. |
| Year of Birth |
|---|
| 1978 |
| Your date of birth as reported by creditors. |
| Phone Numbers | |
|---|---|
| 999-555-5555 | 999-555-0000 |
| Your telephone number is typically reported by your creditors when you apply for credit. It does not affect your creditworthiness or your credit scores. |
| Spouse or Co-Applicant |
|---|
| James N. Consumer |
| If you've had a joint account with a spouse, other family member or friend, that individual's name may appear here. Guarantors, also called cosigners, co-applicants or joint account holders, are equally responsible for repaying the debt. Therefore, the account will appear on both the primary account holder's and co-applicant's credit reports. |
| Current or Former Employers |
|---|
| XYZ Corporation |
| Some lenders may include the employer name you provided to them when reporting your account information. Your employer section may include both current and previous employer names. The names of employers on your credit report don't represent a complete employment history and they don't affect your creditworthiness, but they may help organizations verify your identity. |
| Personal Statements |
|---|
| FILE LOCKED AT CONSUMERS REQUEST |
| Different types of personal statements can be added to a credit report. General statements appear in the personal information section and can include a consumer-initiated statement, security freeze, fraud alert, credit lock, consumer deceased, power of attorney or a minor statement. There are also account-specific statements that appear alongside the account. |
Accounts
The accounts in a credit report can include revolving credit accounts and installment loans, such as credit cards, personal loans, auto loans and mortgages. Creditors can report details about your credit accounts to the credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). However, they aren't required to report account information. Some may only report to one or two of the three major credit reporting companies, while others might not report your accounts at all.
Here are some examples of the types of accounts and account information you might see:
| Account Information | |
|---|---|
| Account Name | Personal Loan Company |
| The name of the lender or account holder. In some cases, this name may be different from the name you see on your credit card or account statement. If you do not recognize the name displayed here, you can use other identifying information, such as the account open date and original amount or limit to identify the account. | |
| Account Number | 137995XXXXXXXX |
| Full account numbers are not provided with your personal credit report. Experian truncates the numbers so they cannot be used to commit fraud by someone who steals your report or somehow accesses it without your permission. | |
| Account Status | Open, Current |
| The status indicates the state of the account as reported by the creditor. One of the most common are past-due amounts and these can be reported as 30, 60, 90, 120 or 150 days late. Typically, lenders will send accounts to collections 3 to 6 months after a payment defaults. Other common statuses include: open, paid, closed, refinanced, transferred and foreclosed. | |
| Date Opened | November 7, 2022 |
| The date when your account was opened as reported by your creditor. | |
| Account Type | Installment Sales Contract |
| The types of records appearing on your credit report, such as mortgages, student loans, auto loans, credit cards, charge cards and service accounts. | |
| Credit Limit / Original Amount | $5,600 |
| For revolving accounts, this will indicate the current credit limit on the account. If the account is an installment loan, this will show the original amount of the loan. |
| Payment Information | |
|---|---|
| Payment Status | Current, was past due 30 days two times |
| A brief message describing your payment history with a specific account. | |
| Payment Status Date | April 2024 |
| Date the creditor last reported information about the account's payment status. | |
| Past-Due Amount | - |
| The amount currently past due as reported by the creditor. The past-due amount would only reflect the amount past due, and not necessarily the total amount owed. For instance, an account could have a past-due balance of $25 but a current cumulative balance of $50. | |
| Monthly Payment | $111 |
| For installment accounts, this is the monthly payment amount agreed upon with your creditor. For revolving accounts, this is typically the minimum monthly payment due on the balance of your account. | |
| Late Payments | April 2023 Jan 2023 |
| The dates associated with payments not made on time for the account. |
| Additional Information | |
|---|---|
| Responsibility | Individual |
| This indicates your association with the account, such as individual, joint, cosigner or authorized user. Since authorized users are not responsible for making payments on an account, you may contact the creditor and request to be removed if you no longer wish to be associated with the account. | |
| Terms | 60 Months |
| The length of an installment loan's term. Typically, payments are required on a monthly basis. If the loan is not of an installment type, a short description of the agreement may be shown. For example, "bank credit cards" or "revolving" may be shown if the account is a credit card. | |
| Comments | - |
| Comments or notes added to the account by the creditor or at the request of the consumer. | |
| Your Statements | - |
| This type of personal statement is an account-specific statement, which is linked to a specific entry in your credit history. Account-specific statements are deleted at the same time as the account. Account-specific statements can take one of two forms: "statement of explanation" or "statement of dispute." Both the consumer's and creditor's statements of the account status will appear on the credit report. This statement will display to anyone who reviews your credit information. |
| Payment History |
|---|
Experian payment history codes show whether an account is current/on-time and its payment history. The payment history may be displayed in a chart showing the month and year the data was reported. Examples of payment statuses are:
|
Collections
When an account becomes seriously past due, the creditor may decide to turn the account over to an internal collection department or sell the debt to a collection agency. Once an account is sold to a collection agency, the collection account can be reported as a separate account on your credit report. Collection accounts have a significant negative impact on your credit scores.
Here's how collection accounts may appear on your report:
| Account Information | |
|---|---|
| Account Name | Credit Services |
| The name of the account holder. If you do not recognize the name displayed here, you can use other identifying information, such as the collection open date or original loan amount in order to identify the account | |
| Account Number | 261114XXXXXXXXXX |
| The unique number assigned by a creditor to identify your account with them. Experian hides several digits of the account number to protect your information from identity theft. | |
| Collection Opened | May 2023 |
| Indicates the date the collection account was opened. | |
| Account Type | Collection Department / Agency / Attorney |
| The types of records appearing on your credit report, such as mortgages, student loans, auto loans, credit cards, charge cards and service accounts. | |
| Original Creditor | Natural Gas Co. |
| Generally speaking, the original creditor is the company or agency that gave you the loan or credit. When a collection agency reports a collection account to your credit history, the name of the original creditor will be listed as well. |
| Payment Information | |
|---|---|
| Original Loan Amount | $541 |
| The original amount owed on the account. | |
| Balance | $541 |
| The current amount owed on the account. | |
| Status Date | Jan 2021 |
| Date the creditor last reported information about the account payment status. |
| Additional Information | |
|---|---|
| Comments | - |
| Comments or notes added to the account by the creditor or at the request of the consumer. | |
| Your Statements | - |
| This type of personal statement is an account-specific statement, which is linked to a specific entry in your credit history. Account-specific statements are deleted at the same time as the account. Account-specific statements can take one of two forms: "statement of explanation" or "statement of dispute." Both the consumer's and creditor's statements of the account status will appear on the credit report. This statement will display to anyone who reviews your credit information. |
| Contact Information | |
|---|---|
| Contact | 100023 ANY RD STE 123 CITY, STATE 12345 By Mail Only |
| This is the contact information provided by the collection agency for this account. In some cases, there may only be an address available. |
Credit Inquiries
Credit inquiries are records of when someone requested a copy of your credit report. They can stay on your credit report for up to two years.
A hard inquiry may appear on your credit report when you apply for a new credit account or ask for a higher credit limit on an existing credit card. These inquiries can affect your credit scores.
Soft inquiries don't affect credit scores and result from credit checks for non-lending purposes; for example, when you check your own credit report, when a collection company checks your credit report or when one of your current creditors reviews your credit.
Inquiries are not currently disputable online through the Dispute Center. If you believe an inquiry is the result of identity theft, the inquiry can be disputed by phone with the help of an Experian Specialist. You can find the support number at Experian's Dispute Center.
Hard and soft credit inquiries may be separated into two sections on your credit report:
| Hard Inquiries | |
|---|---|
| Business Name | Collection Agency |
| Typically, accounts listed are the names of a lender granting potential credit initiated by you. There are other organizations that may have a permissible purpose to access your credit. | |
| Business Type | Other Collection Agencies |
| Typical business types may include: automobile dealers or financing companies, all banks and mortgage reporters. | |
| Inquiry Date | Jan 2021 |
| The date or dates when inquiries were initiated. Multiple dates may show if multiple inquiries were made by the same lender or organization. | |
| Removal Date | Feb 2023 |
| Inquiries are maintained for two years from the date of request. | |
| Contact Info | 500008 ANY BLVD STE 1 CITY, STATE 12345 (999) 555-5555 |
| This is the contact information provided by the creditor for this account. In some cases, there may only be an address available. |
| Soft Inquiries | |
|---|---|
| Company Name | DATA XYZ |
| Inquiry Date | Sep 2020 |
| Contact Info | 20000064 ANY DR CITY, STATE 12345 (999) 555-5555 |
Public Records
Bankruptcies are the only public record that will appear on your credit history. Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding under which a person is provided relief from debts they are unable to pay. Consumers generally file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the included debts are discharged and you don't have to repay them. Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you are responsible for paying back a portion of the debts that you owe through a debt repayment plan. The Chapter 7 record is removed from your credit report 10 years after the filing date; Chapter 13 records are removed seven years after the filing date.
If your report contains public records, the Public Records section includes items from courts that Experian may have obtained through LexisNexis Risk Data Management Inc., a third-party vendor. You may contact them at LexisNexis Consumer Center, P.O. Box 105615, Atlanta, GA 30348-5108, or by visiting https://experianconsumers.lexisnexis.com.
How to Dispute Credit Report Information
You have the right to dispute information on your credit report that you believe is incorrect; for example, if a creditor reports your account as late when you paid the bill on time, or if an account that was discharged during bankruptcy has a past-due balance. Errors can also be the result of fraud, such as when someone uses your personal information to apply for credit in your name.
The most common ways to dispute information in a credit report are online, by mail or over the phone. With Experian, you can go to the online Dispute Center and log in to your account or sign up for a free Experian membership or Service Account. Then:
- Review your information. Experian separates your information into different sections within the Dispute Center, similar to how it's separated in your credit report. Look for the section where you spotted the accuracy on your report. If the information you're disputing might be hurting your credit scores, it might be in a section labeled "potentially negative."
- Choose the information or account you want to dispute. After finding the account or information, choose the item and click start a dispute on the right side.
- Select a dispute reason. Review the dropdown menu of options for why you're disputing the information and choose the one that most closely aligns with what you believe caused the error. In some cases, you can add an explanation. You may also be asked to submit additional documentation.
- Alternatively, call Experian. Some types of information and dispute reasons, such as disputes related to identity theft, can't be processed online. If you're prompted to call Experian, you can reach an Experian Dispute Specialist at 855-414-6048.
- Submit the dispute. If you're submitting the dispute online, review the details before clicking Submit. A confirmation page will verify that the dispute was submitted, and there may be a link to upload documents if required.
Disputes are generally resolved within 30 days, and Experian can send you updates by email. You can also monitor the progress of your dispute by logging in to your Experian account. Depending on what the investigation finds, the information you disputed may be changed, deleted or verified and stay the same.
Monitor Changes in Your Credit Report
Reviewing your credit report can help you understand how creditors see you and be important for spotting errors. Once you've closely reviewed your report, you can also monitor it for changes, such as new inquiries, accounts and payments. Experian offers free credit report monitoring with monthly credit report updates, FICO® Score☉ tracking and real-time alerts.