At a Glance

A consumer credit report is a statement that shares your credit activity and most recent profile. Information can include the status of your credit accounts (such as if they are open, closed, or delinquent), credit limits, account balances, payment history, and more. It also includes a variety of personal information.

Credit reports are generated by the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Information on your credit report is used to calculate your credit score. While there is a ton of information included, there are also some things not included:

In this article, you’ll learn:

How to read a consumer credit report?

You can request a free copy of your credit report directly from one of the consumer credit bureaus, or you can get a free copy from AnnualCreditReport.com. When you get your report, it may seem like an overwhelming amount of information and numbers. But generally, the reports are broken down into five sections:

  1. Personal information
  2. Credit accounts
  3. Collection items
  4. Public records
  5. Inquiries

Related: How Can You Get and Read Your Credit Report?

What type of information is not found on a consumer credit report?

While there is a lot of important information on your credit report that creditors use to determine whether to approve your loan or credit card application and make decisions around terms and interest rates, there is also a variety of information not included.

That means this information does not impact your credit score:

1. Personal information irrelevant to credit

Examples of this can include:

  • Gender
  • Marital status
  • Race and ethnicity
  • Religious beliefs or affiliations
  • Political affiliations
  • Disabilities
  • Education

2. Information related to income and employment

You may find current and past employers in your credit report as part of your personal identifying information (though that is not the case for everyone). However, you will never find any information related to your income. Income is never a factor in calculating your credit score.

While your income plays a vital role in the credit application process, creditors will typically get that information from you via a pay stub or W2 form. Creditors then may use that and information about current debts on your report to calculate a debt-to-income ratio, which can influence your credit application.

3. Financial data not related to debt

There’s a lot of financial information on your report, particularly for loan and credit card accounts. However, financial data that is not reported include:

  • Checking and savings account balances
  • Investments
  • Purchase transactions

Most everyday bills such as rent, utilities, phone/internet bills, and others are also not pulled into your credit report (unless the accounts go into default and end up with a collections agency, or you self-report them).

4. Public records

Some public records are not included in your report, including information on:

  • Civil judgments
  • Tax liens
  • Parking tickets
  • Library fines

5. Medical data

Due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), it’s illegal for credit bureaus to disclose medical information.

However, you may see the name of a medical provider listed as a creditor on a collection account. Note that while you can see the name of the original creditor, this information will only display to lenders as “medical payment data.”

6. Expired and extraneous information

Even if you have negative information on your report, at some point they will automatically drop off when they expire:

  • After 7 years, Chapter 13 bankruptcy, collection accounts, and late or missed payments drop.
  • After 10 years, Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed credit accounts in good standing dropped.

7. Interest rates and penalties

While your credit accounts and some information about them are listed, interest rates and penalties incurred due to missed payments are not reported.

8. Soft inquiries

Soft inquiries are triggered when you or a third-party looks at your credit report for non-lending purposes, such as when you’re asking for a credit report, applying for a job, or renting an apartment or home. These inquiries do not show up on your credit report and do not impact your credit.

What information will you find in a credit report?

On the other hand, you’ll find that a lot more information is included in your report than not:

1. Your identifying information

Personal identifying information that is relevant to your credit is included on your credit report, including:

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Current and past home addresses
  • Phone numbers
  • Social Security number

You may also see current and past employers listed.

2. Credit and loan accounts

This includes:

  • Personal loans
  • Auto loans
  • Mortgages
  • Student loans
  • Lines of credit
  • Credit cards

3. Some public records

Chapter 13 bankruptcies within the past seven years and Chapter 7 bankruptcies within the past 10 years will appear on your report.

4. Hard inquiries

If a creditor, such as a credit card company or lender, accesses your credit report for lending purposes, this triggers a hard credit inquiry. Too many hard inquiries in a short period can appear that you’re shopping for credit, which can indicate you’re a more risky borrower.

FAQs

Incorrect information on a credit report is when something like your personal information or information about your credit accounts is not accurate or complete.

Common errors include incorrect accounts or accounts listed that you did not open, account reporting mistakes (like inaccurate missed payment dates, balances, or dates the account was opened/closed, incorrect credit limits, discharged debts appearing on the report, and accounts that are closed but not reported as such), and inaccurate personal information.

A credit report looks similar to a financial statement, showing a variety of information related to your credit profile, including personal information, credit accounts, some public records, and hard inquiries. Each of these is broken up into its section.

Negative information includes late payments, delinquent accounts, charge-offs, accounts that have been sent to collections, bankruptcies, deeds instead of foreclosure, and foreclosures.