Credit Report Mistakes
November 28, 2007
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group did a study recently and found that 25 percent of consumer credit reports have mistakes on them and that these mistakes can be serious enough to cause a lender to deny credit.
It is no secret that getting credit is harder now than it was just a year ago. For this reason consumers are advised to obtain copies of their credit reports and to carefully check each one to ensure that they are accurate and updated.
Consumers can get copies by visiting annualcreditreport.com. If errors are found, they can be disputed.
Under the current Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus are required to correct any inaccurate information once they have been told about it. For some consumers, however, they need to take an extra step.
If a lender has reported an erroneous entry to the credit bureaus, you will have to track down the source and have them correct the mistake as well. Otherwise, the mistake may continue to appear on future reports.
Consumers should also be aware that the three main reporting agencies are now offering lock and unlock services for their clients. This allows consumers to lock their credit reports to avoid unauthorized use of the reports. More information on these services can be found at the individual websites.