Personal Credit Report: Intentionally Or Unintentionally Errors Are Errors |
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"To err is human" and personal credit reports are no exception to this popular saying. You should not, therefore, leave your personal credit report unchecked for a long time, lest inaccuracies swarm your report and bring your credit rating tumbling down. Nearly 80% of all credit reports contain inaccuracies, which will make it appear as though the consumer has too much credit available as a result of being over-extended or due to non-payment of monthly obligations on time. The three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, have been operating in the field of personal credit reports for a long time and are unlikely to make mistakes. Therefore, the errors could emanate from your creditors and other sources that provide the basic information to the credit bureaus. Errors could also occur when credit accounts change hands or they could be due to some banks not furnishing the bureaus with complete information on their customers. Last but not the least, some errors are caused intentionally. Moreover, the credit bureaus have to process 4.5 billion updates from 30,000 processors for the personal credit reports each month and this can lead to human errors. The consumers can be in serious trouble due to the inaccuracies in their credit reports as most lenders have a look at the credit report of an applicant before sanctioning a loan. Banks check your personal credit report to determine interest rates on loans and if your credit rating is down, which might be due to inaccuracies in your personal credit report, a higher interest rate will be charged by the bank. Most insurance companies feel that people with poor credit on their personal credit report are likely to file more claims than those with better credit. As such, insurance companies examine personal credit reports to determine rates you will pay for auto and home insurance. However in some states, this practice is being challenged. It is interesting to note that even potential employers are also examining personal credit reports before offering jobs. According to a survey, about 35% of companies examine personal credit reports at the time of preemployment screening and this figure could be 40% in the case of retailers. The other industries that delve into credit histories include chemical, pharmaceutical and financial services. You can now realize the importance of keeping your personal credit report free from any errors. As a first step, you should obtain copies of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus and check whether your name, social security number, birth date and address are correct. You should also check for accounts that aren't yours, late payments more than 7 years old, credit inquiries more than 2 years old, bankruptcies more than 10 years old, duplicate collections and any other wrong information in your personal credit report. If you find any error in your personal credit report, all that you have to do is to write a letter or e-mail to the credit bureau, detailing the error and enclosing a copy of the credit report encircling the error. You do not need the help of any outside agency that might promise to repair your credit. Once you send your dispute to the credit bureau, they will contact the creditor who supplied them with the disputed information. They will then revert back to you within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with the way the bureau settles your claim, you can demand that a brief explanation be written at the bottom of your personal credit report. If the creditor cannot verify the accuracy of the disputed item, it must be removed and the credit bureau must send you a free copy of your personal credit report, if any changes are made. In case the disputed item in your personal credit report is found to be correct, the reporting agency must send a notice to you in writing adding the name, address and phone number of the provider. You can initiate another investigation if you are not satisfied and if you are still unsuccessful, you can ask the reporting agency to insert a 100-character explanation next to it that explains your side of the story. |
