Glossary
The terms we use, defined plainly.
Jump to a letter, or scroll through the full list.
- Certified mail
- A USPS service that provides a mailing receipt and a delivery record. With a return receipt, it adds a signature on delivery, making it useful for proving when a dispute was received.
- Charge-off
- When a creditor decides a debt is unlikely to be collected and writes it off as a loss, usually after several months of missed payments. The debt can still be owed and may be sold to a collector.
- Collection account
- A debt that has been sold or assigned to a collection agency after the original creditor stopped pursuing it directly. Collection accounts are reported to the credit bureaus and typically lower a credit score.
- Consumer reporting agency
- A company that collects and maintains consumer credit information and sells it to lenders and other authorized parties. Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax are the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies in the United States.
- Consumer statement
- A short explanation, up to the bureau's length limit, that a consumer can add to a credit report item to give their side when a dispute doesn't result in a change.
- Credit inquiry
- A record that someone accessed a consumer's credit report. See hard inquiry and soft inquiry for the two types and how each affects a credit score.
- Credit report
- A record maintained by a consumer reporting agency detailing a person's credit accounts, payment history, balances, and public record information. Lenders use it to evaluate creditworthiness.
- Credit score
- A numerical representation of credit risk, calculated from the information in a credit report. Different scoring models weigh factors like payment history and utilization differently, so the same file can produce different scores across models.
- Credit utilization
- The percentage of available revolving credit currently in use — for example, a $2,500 balance on a $10,000 credit limit is 25% utilization. Lower utilization is generally viewed favorably in credit scoring.
- Credit-builder loan
- A small loan where the borrowed amount is held in an account while the borrower makes payments, then released at the end. The reported payments can add positive history.
- Date of first delinquency
- The date of the first missed payment that led to a charge-off or collection. It generally starts the seven-year clock for how long the negative item can be reported.
- Debt validation
- A written request that a debt collector prove a debt is yours, including the amount and original creditor. Under the FDCPA, a request made within 30 days of the collector's first notice pauses collection until verification is provided.
- Derogatory mark
- A negative item on a credit report, such as a late payment, collection account, charge-off, or public record item, that can lower a credit score.
- Dispute
- A formal challenge to information on a credit report, submitted to the consumer reporting agency or the company that furnished the information, asserting that an item is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable.
- Documentation
- Supporting records — such as payment confirmations, paid-in-full letters, or account statements — used to substantiate a correction to a credit file.
- Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
- The federal law that regulates how consumer credit information is collected and used and gives consumers the right to dispute inaccurate information. Bureaus generally have 30 days to investigate a dispute.
- Fraud alert
- A notice on a credit file that tells creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before opening new credit.
- Frivolous dispute
- A dispute a bureau treats as lacking relevant information or a specific claim of inaccuracy, which it may decline to investigate while telling the consumer why.
- Furnisher
- A company that reports information about your accounts to credit bureaus, such as a lender, credit card issuer, or debt collector. Furnishers must investigate disputes about the information they report.
- Hard inquiry
- A credit inquiry triggered when a consumer applies for new credit, such as a loan or credit card. Hard inquiries can have a small, typically temporary effect on a credit score.
- Identity theft
- The unauthorized use of someone's personal information, often resulting in fraudulent accounts or charges appearing on their credit report. IdentityTheft.gov is the federal government's official resource for reporting and recovery.
- Loan officer
- A professional, typically employed by a bank or mortgage lender, who works directly with borrowers to originate and process loan applications.
- Method of verification
- How a bureau or furnisher confirmed a disputed item was accurate. Consumers can ask how an item was verified after an investigation.
- Mortgage broker
- A licensed professional who works with multiple lenders to help a borrower find and apply for a mortgage, rather than originating loans directly on behalf of a single institution.
- Obsolete information
- Negative information that has been on a credit report longer than the legal reporting period, generally seven years for most items. Obsolete items can be disputed for removal.
- Preapproval
- A lender's conditional commitment to lend a specific amount, typically based on a full review of income, assets, and credit. Stronger than prequalification, but still subject to final underwriting.
- Prequalification
- An early, informal estimate of how much a borrower may be able to borrow, usually based on self-reported financial information rather than a full underwriting review.
- Rapid rescore
- An expedited process, initiated by a lender or broker (not the consumer directly), that submits documented corrections directly to the credit bureaus so a file updates in days rather than the standard 30–60 day reporting cycle. This is a distinct mortgage-industry service — not something Rapid Rescore (the company) offers.
- Reporting cycle
- The regular interval — typically monthly — on which creditors send updated account information to the consumer reporting agencies. A standard update can take 30 to 60 days to appear on a credit report.
- Reseller
- A company authorized to obtain consumer reports from the nationwide consumer reporting agencies and provide them to end users, such as mortgage lenders, often combining data from multiple bureaus into a single report.
- Secured credit card
- A credit card backed by a refundable deposit that usually sets the credit limit. Used to build payment history if the issuer reports to the credit bureaus.
- Security freeze
- A free tool that restricts access to your credit file so new creditors generally can't open accounts in your name until you lift it.
- Soft inquiry
- A credit inquiry that doesn't affect a credit score, such as a consumer checking their own report or a lender conducting a pre-screening review. Not visible to other lenders viewing the same report.
- Tradeline
- An individual account listed on a credit report — a credit card, mortgage, auto loan, or similar — including its balance, limit, and payment history.
- Underwriting
- The process a lender uses to evaluate the risk of a loan application, reviewing credit, income, assets, and other factors to decide whether — and on what terms — to approve it.
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