In the US your credit score shapes apartment approvals, loan rates and insurance premiums. It is also a subject where a lot of the numbers in circulation have no federal source behind them.
1. What you can do now. You have a legal right to one free credit report a year from each of the three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) — AnnualCreditReport.com or (877) 322-8228. Raising a score starts with reading what is actually on the report.
2. Where the risk is. Most negative information can be reported for seven years, and bankruptcies for up to ten. A lawsuit or judgment runs seven years or until the statute of limitations expires, whichever is longer — so it can outlast the seven.
3. What to do. The dispute deadline forks: normally 30 days, but 45 days for a dispute filed after you obtained your annual free report. And note that the familiar “payment history 35%” weightings are not in this article — the CFPB page contains no percentages at all.
First: get your report for free
Before raising a score, read what is actually on the report. In the CFPB’s words:
“You have the right to request one free copy of your credit report each year from each of the three major consumer reporting companies”
“To get the free credit report authorized by law, go to AnnualCreditReport.com or call (877) 322-8228.”
The three are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. What the law guarantees is one per company per year.
You will often see “free every week” quoted. The CFPB page says only that reports may be available more frequently online — it does not state a frequency. So this article commits only to the annual entitlement.
What goes into the score
The factors the CFPB says scoring models typically consider, in the order the page lists them:
| # | CFPB wording | In plain terms |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Your bill-paying history” | Did you pay on time |
| 2 | “Your current unpaid debt” | What you still owe |
| 3 | “The number and type of loan accounts you have” | How many accounts, of what kind |
| 4 | “How long you have had your loan accounts open” | Length of history |
| 5 | “How much of your available credit you’re using” | Utilisation |
| 6 | “New applications for credit” | Recent applications |
| 7 | “Whether you have had a debt sent to collection, a foreclosure, or a bankruptcy, and how long ago” | Derogatory marks and their age |
No weightings appear here. The widely repeated “35% / 30% / 15% / 10% / 10%” comes from FICO, a private company; the CFPB page carries no percentage at all (confirmed on two reads). It should not be presented as a federal figure.
Fixing an error — the deadline forks
You can dispute incorrect information. Here is the part people miss.
“a credit reporting company generally must investigate the dispute within 30 days of receiving it”
“If you file a dispute after receiving your free annual credit report, they have 45 days to investigate.”
“If you submit additional information relevant to your dispute during the 30-day investigation period, they can extend the investigation period for 15 additional days.”
“They have five business days after completing an investigation to notify you of the results.”
| Situation | Investigation window |
|---|---|
| Ordinary dispute | 30 days |
| Dispute after your free annual report | 45 days |
| You supply more information mid-investigation | up to 15 more days |
| Notifying you of the outcome | within five business days |
So pulling your free report, spotting an error and disputing immediately lengthens the wait. If something time-sensitive depends on it — a mortgage application, say — plan around that difference.
Disputes can go to both the credit reporting company and the furnisher that supplied the information. The CFPB says furnishers “generally must investigate and respond to your dispute within 30 days”.
How long bad marks stay
“A credit reporting company generally can report most negative information for seven years.”
“Bankruptcies can stay on your report for up to ten years.”
“Information about a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.”
That last line matters: judgments can outlast seven years if the statute of limitations has not run. Unlike the other categories, the clock is not fixed.
You will often see “Chapter 7 stays ten years, Chapter 13 seven”. That distinction is not on the CFPB page, so this article says only “bankruptcies up to ten years”.
The order to work in
- Pull all three reports from AnnualCreditReport.com — the three can differ, so read all of them.
- Find what is wrong — accounts you do not recognise, debts already paid, someone else’s data.
- File the dispute — check whether your clock is 30 or 45 days and plan accordingly.
- Wait for the notification — within five business days of the investigation closing.
- Manage the seven factors — especially paying on time and utilisation.
For how this feeds into borrowing costs, see the US mortgage guide and the loan calculator.
Report versus score, in three lines
| Item | Credit report | Credit score |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The record of accounts, payments and delinquencies | A number a model produces from that record |
| Free by law | One per year from each of the three | Not verified in the source |
| If it is wrong | You can dispute (30 or 45 days) | Changes once the report is corrected |
For other fixed costs of US life see health insurance and the cost of running a car; on the income side, salary and take-home pay.
Questions people ask
Does checking my score lower it?
Self-checks and lender checks are understood to be treated differently, but we could not verify that against the CFPB source, so no claim is made here.
What counts as a good score?
We could not find score bands in CFPB material. Multiple scoring models exist and the bands differ between them.
Will closing a card hurt my score?
The CFPB list includes length of history and utilisation, so there may be an effect. But the size of that effect is not in the source.
I just moved to the US and have no history.
How to build a file from scratch could not be verified from the source, so it is not covered here. See other CFPB guidance.
Is a report the same as a score?
No. The report is the record; the score is what a model produces from it. What the law makes free is the report.
Sources and where to check
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — How do I get a free copy of my credit reports? (reviewed 28 August 2023). Source of “one free copy…from each of the three major consumer reporting companies” and AnnualCreditReport.com.
- CFPB — What is a credit score? (reviewed 28 August 2023). Source of the seven factors. This page carries no percentages.
- CFPB — How long does it take to repair an error on a credit report? (reviewed 5 September 2025). Source of the 30 / 45 / +15 / five business days deadlines.
- CFPB — How long does information stay on my credit report? (reviewed 5 September 2025). Source of seven years, ten for bankruptcies, and the statute-of-limitations rule.
- CFPB — How do I dispute an error on my credit report? (reviewed 12 December 2024). Source of the two-track dispute structure.
Written as of July 2026. The free-report entitlement, the seven factors, the dispute deadlines and the retention periods all come from the CFPB pages above, and each was read twice with matching results. Six things could not be verified: (1) the factor weightings (no percentage appears on the CFPB page; the familiar 35/30/15/10/10 is FICO’s); (2) a weekly free-access frequency; (3) the Chapter 7 versus Chapter 13 distinction; (4) score bands; (5) the effect of inquiries on a score; and (6) how to build a credit file from scratch. Multiple scoring models exist, so results differ between providers. This is not financial advice.
