Definition
A record of your credit accounts and payment history kept by credit reporting companies and used to calculate credit scores.
What it means
A credit report lists your loans and credit cards, balances, credit limits, payment history, collections and certain public records, along with personal details such as past addresses. The three nationwide credit reporting companies each keep their own report, so they can differ. You can get free reports from all three every week through AnnualCreditReport.com, the only official site for free reports under federal law. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, most negative information stays for seven years and certain bankruptcies for up to ten. If something is wrong, you can dispute it with the credit reporting company and the business that supplied the information, and they generally must investigate within 30 days. Requesting your own report is a soft inquiry and does not affect your score.
Example
If your report shows a $1,200 medical collection that you already paid, you can send a dispute with your payment receipt; if the information cannot be verified it must be corrected or removed.
Illustrative numbers only. Your situation will differ.