The Keys To Guarding Your Credit History
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When it comes to credit reports, it
is entirely your responsibility to insure it remains free of
discrepancies and errors.
Too many people assume that if they
have an outstanding credit history, there credit report will
accurately reflect it. However, this is not the case.
All too often errors are found on credit reports - and can only be
found and removed if you do something about it!
Remember, your credit report greatly affects your money borrowing
power.
The largest credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and Trans
Union. They are responsible for gathering credit information about you into a report
which lenders
use to base their decision of whether to lend you money or not.
These reports disclose information pertaining to your place of
residence, past billings/payment procedures, bankruptcy filings, and
criminal records.
For instance, let's hypothetically
say you punctually made all your monthly payments on your store
credit card. However, according to your credit report, your
first payment was filed as a late payment by the store. Well,
it is the law (enacted by the Fair Credit
Reporting Act) that the store and the credit agency both fix the
discrepancy. The catch is that they will only know about it
unless you bring it to there attention.
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Credit Report Information |
What you should know regarding
your credit report:
- The types of errors that
could possibly be found on credit reports are unaccounted
payments, late payments, nonexistent accounts,
bankruptcies, repeated information, and false judgments.
- Negative credit history,
such as delinquent payments, remain on a credit report for
seven years. Bankruptcies remain for 10 years.
Court convictions and credit
applications more than $150,000 remain on a credit report
indefinitely.
- A less common but
certainly existent problem are identity mix-ups.
Oftentimes, somebody with the same name, especially if
they are a relative residing at the same address as you,
will mistakenly have their credit report showing in place
of yours.
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The Steps You Should Take
In order to fix a discrepancy on your credit report, the first thing
you must do is write a letter to the credit agency. The letter
should include:
- Your full name and place of
residence with a declaration of the errors in your report, and an
explanation of why you think they are erroneous. Make specific
requests as to what you think should be changed.
- Be sure to provide Xeroxed copies
of documentation providing proof of your claim. This should
include a copy of the credit report as well as payment receipts
and/or bills.
Your next step is to send a similar
letter to the credit lender or place of business where the error had
its inception. Be sure to address the error specifically, and
to include Xeroxed copies of documentation proving your claim.
The Credit Bureau's Answer
It is the credit bureau's responsibility to look into your claim
within a 30 day time frame. However, if they find it trivial,
they can dismiss your dispute. If it is valid, they will
contact the store or lender, who in turn must investigate your claim
and report back to the credit agency.
If, in fact, a mistake is found by
the lender or store, they will notify all the credit bureau's so
that your credit report can be corrected with all the credit
agencies filing a credit report in your records.
After the investigation is complete, the credit bureau must
respond to you with its investigation findings in writing - and also
include an updated credit report. If any business had received your
erroneous credit report in the past six months you have the
prerogative of requesting your updated report to be sent to them
free of charge.
Request A Statement of Dispute
Perchance the credit bureau does not find resolution in your claim,
you have the right to receive a written statement in your report
file declaring that you took action in disputing data listed on your
credit report. In time to come, your credit reports will carry
this statement, in view to those who examine your file.
You can always call the Federal Trade
Commission Consumer Response Center at
1-877-FTC-HELP if you are not happy with the way you were dealt with
by the credit bureau.
Keep in mind, removing errors and
discrepancies off of your credit report is a lengthy process.
Be patient, and trust that your hard work (and the laws of Justice!)
will pay off and make your credit report into one where lenders will
look at it and say "I want to lend that person some money"!
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