CHECKDISPUTE | FREE PRACTICE CHECKLIST
How to Read Your Credit Report, Section by Section

1. Write the credit reporting company's name and the date printed on the report, then the creditor name and the last four digits of the account exactly as the report shows them.
2. Find the document you will compare against — the contract or card agreement for this account, plus its most recent statement — and write the date printed on each.
3. Check the date opened against the contract. Record both dates, even when they match.
4. Check the credit limit or original loan amount against the contract. Record both figures.
5. Check the current balance against your statement, and write down the date on each document before you compare the two numbers.
6. Read the payment history month by month. Circle any month the report treats differently than your own records do, and note the record that shows it.
7. Check whether the entry is older than the applicable reporting period, using the date the report gives rather than the date you last paid.
8. Write one sentence naming the account, the field, the date and the record you are relying on — in your own words, separating what you can document from what you are unsure about.
9. File your copies together and keep sensitive documents out of any shared or public folder.

Practice: https://checkdispute.com/learn/practice/article-01/
Full guide: https://checkdispute-guides.blogspot.com/2026/09/how-to-read-your-credit-report-section.html
Sources checked: 2026-09-20

General education, not personalized legal advice. No credit or dispute outcome is promised. Disputing errors directly is free.