Tina Richardson asked:
Each year, over 13 million inaccuracies are discovered on consumers’ credit reports. This includes everything from faulty late payments, other people’s debts, and a classic is non-payment of an invoice from before they were born. Borrowers are able to challenge these errors; however, most do not know how.
In a 2004 survey conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office showed that over 40 percent of consumers had not checked their credit report for errors. Everyone is now entitled under federal law, to a free credit report from each of the three national credit bureaus. TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
You do have the right to challenge any inaccuracy in your credit report, but federal law does not stipulate that key word. Therefore, credit bureaus are able to determine what is erroneous to their advantage.
For example, you would think that out-of-date information is incorrect. Wrong. This is not an arguable error according to Donald Girard, a spokesperson for Experian. Also, you would think that any missing data is also wrong. No. Credit limits do not have to be reported. Unless the creditor tells them, credit bureaus do not have to report it. This can in fact, hurt your credit score.
It is possible to challenge any personal information which may be wrong such as your address, name or social security number.
Credit bureaus are under no obligation to share information, so be sure to dispute any errors with each one. However, creditors are required to post any corrections to whichever firm that they report to.
The best way to challenge an error is by traditional U.S. mail with a return-receipt. This way, there is evidence that the credit bureau received it. Consumers allege that creditors do not make an adequate investigation. Instead, they may simply compare the claimed error against the inaccurate records or simply remove the disputed information.
According to the 2004 GAO study, almost 70 percent of consumers claimed that the information was removed. However, the incorrect information reappeared on 13 percent of these ‘successfully’ resolved disputes.
As mentioned previously, creditors are required to report any corrections to the bureaus that which they report to, however, this sometimes gets overlooked. If this happens, you will need to arrange another dispute, but this time with the creditor.
You can add a 100 word statement to your credit report if you are not satisfied with any corrections. 100 words are rarely enough to present sufficient detail, but this lets creditors know that there is another side to the story. Let it be known though that this statement will account for nothing in a computerized scoring system.
If errors have come about due to identity theft, you have the right to prevent the credit bureaus from reporting accounts opened by the thief, accounts of yours trashed by the thief and any other erroneous data. You can also prevent credit applications submitted by the thief from being reported. In order to accomplish this, you will need to fill out and file an ID theft report to the credit bureaus.
Finally, you may request a credit bureau to submit corrected copies of your credit report to lenders, insurers or other parties if these companies have based decisions on your erroneous report.
Herbert
Each year, over 13 million inaccuracies are discovered on consumers’ credit reports. This includes everything from faulty late payments, other people’s debts, and a classic is non-payment of an invoice from before they were born. Borrowers are able to challenge these errors; however, most do not know how.
In a 2004 survey conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office showed that over 40 percent of consumers had not checked their credit report for errors. Everyone is now entitled under federal law, to a free credit report from each of the three national credit bureaus. TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
You do have the right to challenge any inaccuracy in your credit report, but federal law does not stipulate that key word. Therefore, credit bureaus are able to determine what is erroneous to their advantage.
For example, you would think that out-of-date information is incorrect. Wrong. This is not an arguable error according to Donald Girard, a spokesperson for Experian. Also, you would think that any missing data is also wrong. No. Credit limits do not have to be reported. Unless the creditor tells them, credit bureaus do not have to report it. This can in fact, hurt your credit score.
It is possible to challenge any personal information which may be wrong such as your address, name or social security number.
Credit bureaus are under no obligation to share information, so be sure to dispute any errors with each one. However, creditors are required to post any corrections to whichever firm that they report to.
The best way to challenge an error is by traditional U.S. mail with a return-receipt. This way, there is evidence that the credit bureau received it. Consumers allege that creditors do not make an adequate investigation. Instead, they may simply compare the claimed error against the inaccurate records or simply remove the disputed information.
According to the 2004 GAO study, almost 70 percent of consumers claimed that the information was removed. However, the incorrect information reappeared on 13 percent of these ‘successfully’ resolved disputes.
As mentioned previously, creditors are required to report any corrections to the bureaus that which they report to, however, this sometimes gets overlooked. If this happens, you will need to arrange another dispute, but this time with the creditor.
You can add a 100 word statement to your credit report if you are not satisfied with any corrections. 100 words are rarely enough to present sufficient detail, but this lets creditors know that there is another side to the story. Let it be known though that this statement will account for nothing in a computerized scoring system.
If errors have come about due to identity theft, you have the right to prevent the credit bureaus from reporting accounts opened by the thief, accounts of yours trashed by the thief and any other erroneous data. You can also prevent credit applications submitted by the thief from being reported. In order to accomplish this, you will need to fill out and file an ID theft report to the credit bureaus.
Finally, you may request a credit bureau to submit corrected copies of your credit report to lenders, insurers or other parties if these companies have based decisions on your erroneous report.
Herbert
