How to Read a Credit Report

Credit reports contain extremely useful information. Below is a breakdown on how to read a credit report by section.

The first section on the report is the Credit Summary. This includes the amount of total trade lines that are satisfactory, currently delinquent, previously delinquent, and in collections. This also shows the number of times payments were 30, 60, and 90 days late. The oldest and newest trade are the opening dates of the oldest and most recent lines.

Financial Summary includes the types of trade lines and breaks them down by payment, balance, past due amount, and utilization. The bottom row is the amounts tallied into a grand usage total. 

Personal Information Comparison will state what the applicant entered compared to what TransUnion has listed. This may include name variations that have been entered in the past. 

Employment Comparison may include employers that have the candidate listed as a former/current employee. Not all employers will report to TransUnion so this area may be blank. 

The Credit History is all of the specific details on each tradeline;

Creditor - Who issued the tradeline/loan.

Opening Date/Months Reviewed - The date the line was opened and how many months are being reported.

Reported Date/DLA - The most recent reported date and the date the account was last active. 

High Credit - The credit amount or the highest amount the account has had. 

Balance - The remaining owed balance on the account.

Past Due Amount - The amount that's past due on the line.

Historical Times Past Due - The amount of times the accounts has had payments 30, 60, and 90 days past due. 

Type and Terms - The type of loan/tradeline along with the possible payment amount and months on the loan.

Present Status - The current account status - Delinquent, As Agreed, Charge Off, etc..

ECOA - The status on the loan - Borrower, Co-Borrower, Shared, etc.. 

Prior Inquiries will show the most recent inquiries to their credit. 

If you have any further questions at all please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team. We can be contacted at 888-350-7681 opt 0 or [e-mail]. Our hours are M-F 9 AM - 5 PM MT.