Credit reporting agencies are private, for-profit companies that collect information about how you borrow and repay money, then sell that information in report form to lenders, landlords, insurers, and employers who are deciding whether to do business with you. Three companies dominate the industry in the United States: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Companies List They are not government bodies, and they do not approve or deny your applications. They supply the raw data that other businesses use to make those calls.
The Three Nationwide Agencies
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion each run their own separate database covering hundreds of millions of consumers. They compete with one another, which has a practical consequence for you: the file one agency holds on you can look different from the file another agency holds. Some creditors report to all three, others to only one or two, and the timing of monthly updates varies. The same credit score calculated from each agency’s data can land in a different place.
A much larger group of specialty agencies also exists. These focus on narrower slices of consumer behavior that a standard credit report does not capture, such as checking account history (ChexSystems), insurance claims, and tenant screening records.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Companies List Your rights to see and dispute information at a specialty agency are the same as at the big three.
What’s in a Credit Report
A credit report is organized in a few standard sections. The identifying section carries your name, date of birth, Social Security number, current and previous addresses, and employer information.2Federal Trade Commission. Free Credit Reports This part helps the agency match incoming data to the right file and does not feed into your credit score.
The main body is made up of trade lines, one per credit account. Each trade line shows when the account was opened, the type of account, your credit limit or original loan balance, your current balance, and a month-by-month record of whether you paid on time. Late payments are logged in 30-day increments: 30, 60, 90 days late, and beyond.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does Information Stay on My Credit Report? This is where most credit problems appear.
The report also lists inquiries (who has pulled your file and when) and, where applicable, public records such as bankruptcies.
How Long Information Stays
Federal law caps how long negative information can appear. Most adverse items, including late payments, collections, and charge-offs, can stay for up to seven years.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports Chapter 7 bankruptcies can remain for up to ten years; Chapter 13 bankruptcies typically drop off after seven.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does Information Stay on My Credit Report? Positive account history can stay indefinitely while an account is open, and closed accounts in good standing often remain visible for a decade or more.
Where the Data Comes From
Agencies do not generate your financial history themselves. They receive it from “data furnishers,” the industry term for any company that reports your account activity: banks, credit card issuers, mortgage companies, auto lenders, student loan servicers, and, once a debt has been handed off, collection agencies. Public records on bankruptcy filings come in from court records.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does Information Stay on My Credit Report?
Two boundaries are worth knowing because they contradict older guidance you may still see. The three major agencies stopped including civil judgments and most tax liens on credit reports in 2017 and 2018, citing data quality concerns.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A New Retrospective on the Removal of Public Records Medical debt is in flux: the CFPB finalized a rule in January 2025 banning it from credit reports, but a federal court vacated that rule in July 2025, finding the agency had exceeded its authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Prohibition on Creditors and Consumer Reporting Agencies Concerning Medical Information (Regulation V) Before the rule, the three agencies had voluntarily stopped reporting paid medical collections and medical debts under $500. Check your own reports if you have medical debt, since the rules here may shift again.
Who Can Pull Your Report
Federal law limits access to parties with a “permissible purpose,” meaning a legitimate business reason tied to a transaction you started or a legal obligation they must meet.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Common permissible purposes include:
- A lender evaluating your application for a credit card, loan, or mortgage.
- An insurer deciding whether to offer coverage or how to price it.
- An employer considering you for a job, with your written permission.
- A landlord reviewing your rental application.
- An existing creditor checking whether you still meet account terms.
- A court order or federal grand jury subpoena.
- Your own request to see your file.
Employers face stricter rules than lenders. Before pulling your report, an employer must give you a standalone written disclosure and get your written authorization. If anything in the report pushes them toward not hiring you, they must give you a copy and time to challenge inaccuracies before they make a final decision.8Federal Trade Commission. Background Checks on Prospective Employees: Keep Required Disclosures Simple If you are job hunting, this two-step process is one of the law’s more useful protections.
Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act, codified starting at 15 U.S.C. § 1681, governs the entire credit reporting industry.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681 – Congressional Findings and Statement of Purpose It binds the agencies, the companies that feed them data, and anyone who uses a report to make a decision about you.
Accuracy
Agencies must follow reasonable procedures to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of the information they publish about you.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681e – Compliance Procedures Reports still contain errors, but this standard gives you legal footing when they do.
Disputes
When you find an error, you can dispute it with the agency. The agency generally has 30 days to investigate, extendable by 15 more days if you submit new relevant information during the investigation.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy If the investigation shows the data was wrong or cannot be verified, it must be corrected or removed.
You can also dispute directly with the furnisher. If your bank reported a late payment that you actually made on time, you can file the dispute with the bank. The furnisher then has to conduct a reasonable investigation and, if the data was wrong, notify every agency it reported to.12Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Reports: What Information Furnishers Need to Know Going straight to the source is sometimes faster.
Damages When the Law Is Broken
If an agency or furnisher willfully violates the FCRA, you can sue for actual damages or statutory damages between $100 and $1,000 per violation, plus punitive damages and attorney fees.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance Even negligent violations carry liability for actual damages and attorney fees. The fee-shifting piece matters, because it means some attorneys will take these cases on contingency.
Getting Your Free Reports
Federal law entitles you to one free report from each of the three nationwide agencies every 12 months. The only federally authorized site is AnnualCreditReport.com.14Federal Register. Free Annual File Disclosures You can also request by phone at 877-322-8228 or by mail. Other sites advertising “free credit reports” are often marketing funnels for paid monitoring subscriptions, so stay with the official address.
You qualify for an additional free report in several situations: after being denied credit, insurance, or employment because of your report; if you are unemployed and plan to apply for a job within 60 days; if you are on public assistance; or if you believe your file contains errors tied to fraud.15Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act Since the pandemic, the three agencies have offered free weekly reports through AnnualCreditReport.com, and as of this writing that expanded access remains available.
Freezing Your File or Setting a Fraud Alert
If identity theft is your worry, a security freeze is the strongest tool. A freeze locks your file so a new creditor cannot pull it, which effectively stops someone from opening accounts in your name. Placing and lifting a freeze is free at all three agencies under the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018.16Federal Trade Commission. Starting Today, New Federal Law Allows Consumers to Place Free Credit Freezes and Yearlong Fraud Alerts You have to freeze your file at each agency separately, and you can lift the freeze temporarily when you want to apply for new credit.
A fraud alert is a lighter alternative. An initial alert lasts one year and tells businesses to verify your identity before opening new accounts. You only need to contact one of the three agencies; that agency has to notify the other two. Confirmed identity theft victims with an FTC or police report can place an extended alert that lasts seven years.17Consumer Advice. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts Neither a freeze nor a fraud alert touches your credit score.