What is a Credit Report?
A credit report is used by potential lenders and creditors to help determine at what terms to offer you credit. It is a summary of your credit and how you handle your credit accounts. To ensure the information on your credit report is accurate, it is important to check your credit reports regularly, to avoid any credit report error. Since, it is a summary of your credit and how you handle your credit accounts, including the types of accounts and your payment history. As well as, certain information that’s reported to credit bureaus by the lenders and creditors.
If you’re applying for services such as phone, utilities or a mobile phone contact, your credit reports may be reviewed for insurance purposes.The potential creditors and lenders decision making process is to decide whether to extend the credit or on what terms. Potential employers or landlords may also access your reports to help them decide whether to offer you a job or a lease. This is why you must check your credit reports regularly to ensure they are accurate and complete. An error in a credit report must be rectified at the earliest possible to avoid any problems in the future. Here are some very common errors in your credit report before starting the steps to rectify errors in it.
Credit Report Errors And Their Types
- Identity related errors:
- Mixing of identity information with someone with the same or similar name
- Identity mistakes such as an incorrect name, phone number, address or PAN number
- Account related errors:
- A closed account that’s still being reported as open
- A new account not showing at all
- Accounts that are incorrectly reported as defaulted
- Incorrect date of EMI payment, or incorrect showing of late payment
- An account listed more than once with different creditors
- Showing those accounts which are very old
3. Balance related issues:
- Incorrect account balance information
- Inaccurate credit limits
Always remember that any kind of information update will take at least two months to update. Hence, an account that is just two months old might not show up in your credit report. Here are some ways of disputing credit report errors in your credit report.
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Steps To Dispute Mistakes On Your Credit Report
Step 1: Identify Any Credit Report Errors
An error in your credit report can impact you since it contains all the information of how you pay your bills and if you’ve ever and if you’ve ever filed for bankruptcy. It is necessary to keep a close tab on your credit report as it could impact you in many ways. An error in your credit report could affect you negatively.
Credit reporting companies sell the information in your credit reports to groups that include employers, insurers, utility companies and many other types of groups that want to verify your identity and use that information to evaluate your creditworthiness.
Step 2: Contact the furnisher
Contact the entity who provided the information about the error, it might be a bank or a utility company. Verify the records and confirm the error. By then you will be able to resolve the issue but if the issue cannot be resolved, contact the credit bureau directly.
Step 3: Dispute your Credit Report Errors
The best way to inform the credit bureau is in writing about what information is incorrect. The Federal Trade Commission provides a sample dispute letter that makes it easier to take this step. The outline includes what outline to follow and how to write the letter. Don’t forget to include copies, not originals of your information. You can even add an enclosed copy of your credit report with your credit errors circled or highlighted. Also, keep copies of everything you send and the post office receipt.
Step 4: Allow time for the investigation
Credit reporting bureaus must look into the dispute terms. They have to send relevant information to the information provider, whoever reported the disputed item. The process usually takes fewer than 30 days. The provider must investigate the dispute and report back to the credit reporting bureau. If the error is right then the one who provided the information has to ping the three major credit bureaus to correct the information in your credit report.
Step 5: Follow up after the investigation
After the investigation of the credit report error is done, a free copy of your credit report and the results of the investigation will be sent to you. If any of the parties received the wrong information from your credit report in the past six months or two years. Notify the companies who received your incorrect report in the past six months and send a correct copy to the companies who received the incorrect one in the past two years.
These are some steps on how to fix errors on your credit report. Remember that the process of disputing credit report errors takes time to be resolved. Disputing credit errors might be a hassle but the effort will be worth it. Removing such errors on your credit report can help improve your credit health. It can also help you save money on loans and credit. Therefore, it is recommended that you check your credit score regularly and if the information is accurate.
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