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80% of all people have credit reports that are incorrect, outdated,
contain serious breaches of security, or list items multiple
times. These types of errors can affect how lenders and credit
card companies perceive you and can even stop you from getting
a loan based on something that's not true. In this article,
we will talk about how to spot out these errors and have them
removed from your credit report.
Stay updated
Each person is allowed to receive one free credit report from
each of the reporting agencies per year. The two reporting
agencies are Equifax, and Experian. As this gives you three
free reports every year, it would be wise to check your credit
every four months. Additional credit reports and scores are
available but you will have to pay for those. Regardless,
it is vital that you stay updated on your report and keep
checking it regularly to make sure that there are no errors.
Be sure to update your personal information such as name,
address, phone number, and employer, as well as making sure
that your credit report accurately portrays your current financial
status.
Filing
a dispute
When filing a dispute, the first thing you need to do is alert
the credit bureaus who report your financial situations. You
can contact them by phone, mail, or via the Internet. Their
website will provide you with forms that you can print out
and mail in along with copies of your financial statements,
driver's license, Social Security card, and anything else
that proves or disproves the information on your credit report.
The next thing you need to do is contact your creditor or
lender and do the same thing. Keep a folder with copies of
everything you've mailed in along with details of phone calls
and dates that you made contact.
Investigation
Investigations into credit history errors must be completed
within 30-45 days, according to the law. The credit bureau
will contact your lender or creditor and ask them to look
at their records and see if there is an error. If there is,
the lender or creditor will contact all three credit bureaus
with the updated information and the credit bureau will send
you a free updated version of the credit report. If the dispute
is not solved, you will be able to attach a notice to your
report so that anyone who looks at your file in the future
will be able to read what you have to say about the situation
and the errors that you see.
Identity
theft
If there is inaccurate information on your credit report and
the credit bureau says that there is no problem, it is possible
that your identity has been stolen. You will need to contact
the credit bureau and inform them of the situation as well
as contacting the organization that sponsors the illegal account
on your credit report. You may also want to file a police
report and keep a detailed folder of all your attempts at
regaining control of your credit.
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