LOS ANGELES – January 27, 2021 – (Newswire.com)
Your credit report is a vital record that influences your ability to receive money from lenders. Your report is created from information from creditors, and the information reported isn’t guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Even simple mistakes that make their way onto your credit report can be damaging, especially if they’re not caught early and corrected. If bad credit from an error is keeping you from your financial goals, read on to learn how to correct these errors.
How do I check my credit report?
You are eligible to check your credit report once every twelve months with each of the three major credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. It’s essential to check your report with each bureau as they may have different information.
Some experts advise spreading your credit report checks evenly throughout the year to access a report from a different bureau every four months. This approach can lead to diagnosing potential errors more quickly.
Certain lenders and banks will also give you a current update of your credit can also stay on top of your score by checking it through a lender’s website or app. These types of checks are “soft,” meaning they won’t hurt your credit score.
What kinds of mistakes might I find on my credit report?
Creditors who manage auto loans, mortgages, and credit cards are responsible for submitting information to each credit reporting bureau. During that process, creditors may mis-key information, have old or incorrect data, or apply payments to the wrong account. Some of the most common mistakes on credit reports are:
- Inaccurate balances
- On-time account payments that are reported as missed or late
- Accounts listed that belong to others of the same name
- Incorrect dates for opening or closing an account
How mistakes can impact you
When potential lenders view your credit report, they look for red flags that make you a riskier borrower. If you have payments marked as late or too high balances in error, lenders may deny your request for a loan. The worst-case scenario is that a mistake would cause your credit score to go down or that you would have difficulty securing a line of credit.
What to do if you suspect an error
If you find a mistake during a regular review of your credit report, you’ll want to immediately contact the appropriate reporting bureau and open a dispute. You can submit a dispute request to any of the three reporting bureaus either via mail or online. You’ll also want to submit a notice to the particular creditor who reported the error and notify them that you’ve filed a dispute. That allows them to begin to correct the error on their end as well.
Mistakes happen. But you can keep them from having profound financial implications by staying on top of credit report monitoring each year. Take advantage of being able to access your credit reports for free, and be sure to notify creditors and reporting bureaus immediately upon suspicion of a mistake. Your financial health thanks you.
Notice: Information provided in this article is for informational purposes only. Consult your financial advisor about your financial circumstances.
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What to Do if You Have Bad Credit Due to Mistakes on Your Credit Report
