 TITLE: How to Check if Something Changed on Your Credit Report CONTENT: How Often Does My Credit Report Update?\n---------------------------------------\nThe bulk of your credit reports consists of credit usage and payment information creditors furnish to the national credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax), typically on a monthly basis. Each lender updates the bureaus according to its own schedule: Some lenders may issue their updates at the beginning of the month, while others may wait until the end of the month. Additionally, each may update one credit bureau one day, and the others a few days later.\nDepending on the number of loans and credit card accounts you have, and how your payments and card purchases sync with the lenders' update schedules, your credit reports at each credit bureau change continually. That means it's perfectly normal that your credit reports at each bureau are not exactly the same.\nThe best approach to tracking your credit reports is to obtain a report from each credit bureau, which you can for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. Study each carefully to make sure all the information it contains is accurate. In the unlikely event you discover information you believe to be inaccurate, such as a reported late payment that you remember making on time, go back to the lender on whose account the information appears and ask them to update it. You can also file a dispute with the relevant credit bureau, supply any backup information they may request, and give them a chance to investigate and update your report if necessary.\nAfter this initial review, you should continue to check your credit regularly, focusing on the information that has changed. As new data is added between reporting periods, your credit reports maintain a true reflection of your credit activity. Credit scores calculated using those reports will give lenders an accurate picture of your ability to manage new credit in the future. END