Are there errors on your credit report?
Are there errors on your credit report? Even though you likely have a very busy life, this is something you should be checking on regularly. While you can get a free copy of your credit reports annually, many people choose to pay for a service that allows them to check on it regularly. Some errors on credit reports go undetected for a very long time though.
Sometimes these errors are the result of information not being reported correctly. For example you may have paid off a balance on an account but it is still being shown as something you owe. You may trade in a vehicle for a new one and then find out your credit report is showing two open accounts for auto loans instead of one.
You may be the victim of someone else using your personal information for their own gain though. You may discover some accounts on your credit report that you have never established on your own. This can be very scary and upsetting at the same time. Yet you will need to try to remain calm and start to take care of the problems that are showing up on your credit reports.
The best way to make sure there aren’t any errors on your credit report is to evaluate them regularly. Make sure you look over your reported information from all three of the reporting agencies. Sometimes a mistake is on all of them and other times it is just on one of them. It can take a very long time to get these issues resolved so the sooner you can get the process started the better.
Start out by carefully going over every single line on all three of your credit reports. Highlight those issues that are questionable to you. This way you can go back and look up the information on them to verify accuracy. If you should find errors you need to make copies of your verifications that show it. You may need to make some calls to get your hands on such information.
Once you have collected evidence to verify your claims, you can proceed with sending it to the credit bureaus. You are going to save yourself time and ensure your problem gets taken care of faster if you send them everything at once. This include a personal letter addressing the issue, a copy of the error on the credit report, their dispute form, and your verifications.
Send each of the three credit bureaus a copy of the credit report, the letter you wrote, the dispute form, and the verifications. Make sure you keep a copy of everything for yourself too. Document when you mail them the information and any correspondence via certified mail so they can’t say they didn’t get it. Give them some time to review the information and to get back to you.
Don’t wait to identify and resolve errors on your credit report until you are up against a wall. You need to know exactly what is on them so you will always feel confident when you apply for new credit. Some types of errors can be cleared up in a couple of months. Large issues though including identity theft can take years to get cleared off of your credit reports.
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