Identifying and resolving errors on your credit report

By: Robert Bain

Problems with credit reports are more common than most of us might think. In fact, it should make your nervous enough to review your own credit reports if you haven't done so recently. There are three different credit reporting bureaus and they will send you a full report once a year at no charge. Even if you have to pay for them though it is going to save you money in the overall scheme of things.

There are many different reasons why errors happen. The people that enter the data are human and they can make innocent mistakes. Sometimes the issuer of the credit hasn't done their part to remedy the situation. For example they may not have reported you paid off your loan early. It may still show you owe them money and that means a lower credit score. This is common when companies get bought out by someone else.

Identity theft is a huge problem in our society, and one you need to carefully guard yourself against. Identifying accounts you didn't open on your credit reports is one of the main ways to find out this is taking place. Those lenders that look at your credit report though are going to assume they are your accounts until you get the situation resolved.

Don't assume that what is on your credit report from one reporting agency is the same as the other two either. In many instances the errors will be the same but if it is an in house data entry problem then it will only show up on one of them. That could be the one credit report though that your particular lender is looking at. The process for getting errors corrected can really drag out so make sure you get the ball rolling as soon as you can.

With this in mind, request a copy of all three of your credit reports. Once you have them in hand go over them in great detail. Avoid distractions so you can really focus on the information you are reviewing. It is a good idea to go over one credit report at a time in its entirety. Make notes of anything you aren't sure is correct so you can look into it further.

There is a dispute form that each of the three credit bureaus use. You can easily download it from the internet and print it out. It is best to write a short but detailed letter about the error, why you dispute it, and discussing the evidence you have to verify it. Make sure your letter has all of your contact information on it as well.

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.

If you find there are problems with your credit report, you need to take care of them. Don't let things continue to compound. It is going to take time and effort on your part to get them resolved. If you don't contact the credit bureaus though they are going to continue assuming what they have on file for you is correct. This is going to mean you pay more for credit or that you get denied when you apply for it.

Article Source: http://www.retirementlivingarticledirectory.com

Robert Bain is fascinated by the secret credit industry. He follows personal credit related issues such as credit cards, debt relief, home owners loans, secured personal loan and scams.

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