Four Steps For Making Credit Report Corrections
Experts estimate that as many as 25% of people with credit histories have errors on their credit report. Incorrect information on your credit report can cause a number of different problems, including causing the person to be turned down for a loan, home, or job or requiring the person to pay higher interest payments on loans. Ensuring that the information on your credit report is correct and fixing mistakes that have been added to the report is not as difficult as you may think and can be accomplished in several simple steps.
1. Review Your Credit Report Regularly
The easiest way to identify incorrect information on your credit report is to review your credit reports regularly so that you know what information should be in your credit report and what information should not be included. The federal government has mandated that every person is entitled to receive one free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus each year so that you can see what information has been added to the report. Identifying mistakes quickly will make it much easier to correct the information.
2. Contact The Credit Bureau
If incorrect information is found on your credit report, the next step is to contact the credit bureau to let them know about the mistakes that you have found. The credit reporting bureaus are required by law to investigate any allegations of incorrect information on a credit report and if the information is determined to be incorrect, it must be removed from the credit report completely. It is very important to remember to be polite and courteous to the representative at the credit reporting bureau because you are asking them to help you correct the issue.
3. Keep Careful Records
Once you have contacted the credit reporting bureau about incorrect information in your credit report, it is very important to keep careful records of all interactions that you have regarding the incorrect information until the information is corrected or deleted from your credit report. Every contact that is made should be logged and include information such as when the contact was made, who you spoke with, and what solution was presented to you. These records will come in handy if you ever need to involve a third party, like a lawyer, in the process to get the information in your credit report corrected.
4. Verify That The Information Has Been Corrected
Do not make the mistake of assuming that the information in your credit report has been corrected just because you have contact the credit reporting bureau and alerted them to the mistakes that were made. In some cases, information is lost or cannot be verified, stalling the process of correcting the information in your credit report until the credit reporting bureau has received additional information. It is important to keep making contact and reviewing your credit report until you are sure that the incorrect information has been removed.
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