Understanding your credit report  I have seen a number of articles that try to diagram and explain all the parts of a credit report.  They’ll tell you a report is broken down into the following categories: 1.) Identifying information. 2.) Account details. 3.) Credit Inquiries. 4.) Public records and collections. 5.) Positive and negative accounts.   These are well intended articles, designed to help people understand important information and may have helped some people.  However, with the way credit reports are formatted, even having this information can be of limited value.   First of all, the bureaus have not standardized the reporting format.  Experian, Trans Union and Equifax all have their own way of writing their reports so it can be hard to match up information.   Second, it can be further complicated by the fact that the reports may not report the same information.  This is due to companies who may not report to all 3 credit bureaus, or inconsistent reporting.   Finally, there are the mistakes which happen more often than people may think.  Since the information is being inputed by people, something as simple as a tiny error of data can show up differently on one or more reports. I Clean Ugly Credit takes the time to go over the report, line by line, to clarify the information.  Once the information is clear, the individual understands how the reports were written and has a clear plan on how to make improvements.   If you are motivated to request your reports, but feel a little overwhelmed by all the data, the best way to proceed is to have a consultation with Debbie and it will be much easier to more on from there. Debbie will review your credit report, line by line and together you will come up with a plan to maximize your credit score.  HOPE is on the way!!