The Experian Credit Report does a very good job at organizing and presenting a much cleaner credit report. Also the Experian Credit Report offers a better outline referencing Your Rights at the end of the credit report.
Make sure that your NAME is spelled correctly as having different spellings or derivatives of your first or last name may be an indication of fraud.
Make sure that If you use a suffix such as Junior, or Jr, or III, that the suffix is accurate.
NOTE: You will be safe if you consistently use your name as it appears on your official government ID such as your Driver License, passport, etc.
Check your CURRENT ADDRESS and previous addresses for accuracy.
Check for other names associated with your credit as this may reveal someone who is using your credit privileges without your authorization.
Consumers have the right to add personal statements to their credit report to explain special circumstances to a credit account or to further explain a particular public record. If you feel that an explanation will help to diminish the negative affect on your credit report, feel free to do so. However, DO NOT FABRICATE YOUR EXPLANATION because if later on, you are asked to further explain ‘why’ something is on your credit report and your ‘verbal’ explanation does not match your ‘written’ explanation, your chances of approval may suffer.
Your ‘Potential Negative Items’ are listed first and this is what potential creditors, lenders, employers, and anyone else who is interested in your ‘character’ will be interested in the most. The ‘headings’ are self-explanatory so make sure the details are accurate. Also, pay close attention to the Account History Bar. If you see any color other than GREEN, you want to make sure that this information is accurate. Ideally, this section should be completely empty
You want the ‘Accounts in Good Standing’ section to be bursting with good credit accounts. Especially if you show anything in the previous section (Potentially Negative Items) so that you can drown out any negative information on your credit report that is in fact accurate.
If there are Credit Inquiries that you did not authorize you need to have them removed. These are Hard Inquiries that are ‘Shared with others’ meaning that everyone who requests your credit report can see them. The Credit Inquiries that are ‘Shared only with you’ are known as Soft Inquiries and are not significant as you are the only person that can see them, however, you should not ignore them as there might be a Credit Inquiry that you would not wish to have on your credit report .
‘Important Messages’ are communications that Experian would like for you to be aware of. These messages may change over time and they are relevant to the time when you request your credit report.
‘Know Your Rights’ is a short summary of the FDCPA and some relevant codes and information to help you with understanding what is included within your credit report.
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Understanding What Your Credit Report Says About YOU