You may have looked at them a time or two but when was the last time you thoroughly checked your credit reports?  They seem intimidating and confusing to many people.  Millions of consumers suffer from bad credit and are afraid to look at their credit reports until they need them, and of course, then it is too late.

Your issues may be severe like a charge-off, collection account, tax lien, or judgment, or maybe your issues are minor like a few slow pays.  Whatever the case may be, there is a method to properly handle each one.  Remember, your objective is to bring your credit reports up to the best possible standard.  Any false promises of total guaranteed credit repair are just that - false.

Start simple.  Go over each credit report and review each section.  Your credit reports will contain generally the same information give or take a few items. 

Not all credit bureaus report every account.  Some creditors only report to one or two while others may report to all three.  This will be important later on when you begin learning how to dispute your credit.

Information in the credit report:

• Public records
• Tax liens
• Judgments
• Felonies
• Unpaid child support
• Bankruptcy records
• Credit history
• Date account opened
• Date account closed
• Balances owed
• Limits available
• Monthly payment history
• Status of account, i.e. current, charge-off, collections
• Inquiries - hard or soft
• Consumer statement (when requested)

You can see from the exhaustive list above that many factors go into your credit reports.  It's no wonder consumers are confused.  Each credit bureau has its own codes and layout.  All three credit bureaus display the information similarly but the coding may vary from bureau to bureau. 

Those codes mean a variety of things but the most common are as follows:

Common credit bureau codes:

R1- stands for current

R2 - stands for slightly delinquent, usually 30 days

R3 - stands for 60 days delinquent

R4 - stands for 90 days delinquent

R5 - stands for 120 days delinquent

R6 - stands for 180 days delinquent

R7 - stands for over 180 days delinquent

R8, R9 - stands for charge-off, collections, or repossession

You may also see the following codes, depending on the bureau:

C         Current

N         Current account/zero balance

0          Current account/zero balance

1          30 days past the due date

2          60 days past the due date

3          90 days past the due date

4          120 days past the due date

5          150 days past the due date

6          180 days past the due date

7          Making payments or paid under wage earner plan

8          Derogatory, repossession, foreclosure