Credit reporting errors can negatively impact a person’s credit report for years, but consumers can fix them by checking their credit report every year or two. They should examine the report, check each name and account number, and contact the credit card company or reporting agencies to correct any errors. Consumers should also ensure that accounts they no longer use are closed. If there are errors in balance amounts or accounts that the consumer hasn’t opened, legal assistance may be required. For fraud or identity theft, consumers should consult an attorney.
Few incidents cause more headaches than credit reporting errors. They are difficult to fix and can negatively affect a person’s credit report for years. However, consumers have a few ways to fix credit report errors.
The best defense against credit report errors is for a consumer to get a credit report every year or two and check it for errors. These are available from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Every person can now get a free copy of their credit report once a year.
The consumer should examine the credit report and check each name and account number against those on his or her credit cards. If they don’t match, he should contact the credit card company and see if they have the correct information. If not, he can correct the problem through the credit card company and the changes should be reflected in the company’s next update with the reporting agencies. If it’s not a company error, the consumer should contact reporting agencies and send them a copy of a recent statement with the correct information so they can update it.
The consumer should look in the credit report for accounts that they no longer use or think they have closed and should ensure that these accounts are closed. He will probably need to contact the credit card company to do this, but he needs to do this to ensure that no charges are applied to these accounts. He may need to request a closing letter from the company and send copies to reporting agencies to update the information.
The above errors are relatively simple to fix. The ones causing the problems are those that include errors in balance amounts, accounts that the consumer hasn’t opened, and other similar problems. These may require legal assistance to resolve.
If a balance on a credit report is incorrect, or the account reflects overdue payments when there were none, the consumer should contact the credit card company. should ask when payments are late and should have copies of bank statements to hand showing that payments have been received regularly and on time. It should then ask the company to send a letter to reporting agencies to remove the erroneous information. It can also send a copy of a statement showing your current balance to reporting agencies.
Sometimes, someone with the same name will have an account listed on a consumer report. In this case, the consumer must immediately call the credit card company and request that this information be removed, and must ask them to send him and the reporting agencies a letter confirming all personal information and social security numbers and to ask communication agencies to update their files accordingly. Even if the account has not been opened by the consumer, he should first try to resolve the issue with the credit card company and reporting agencies.
Consumers should make an effort to resolve credit report issues on a personal level first, but should save all documents and communications received from credit card companies or reporting agencies. A consumer should have dates on everything he sends or receives from companies and copies as well. The consumer should also ensure that they never make any kind of threat, implied or blatant. He may say he will consult a lawyer or report a company to the Federal Trade Commission, but beyond that, he should not make any kind of statement about what actions he will take if the problem isn’t resolved. People have been arrested for this type of behavior.
For questions regarding fraud or identity theft, a consumer should immediately consult an attorney for advice. These are issues that most consumers cannot deal with on their own. For any type of favorable outcome, you will probably need to consult a lawyer. Keeping an eye on his credit report is the best way for a consumer to protect himself from mistakes and fix them before they become problematic. However, if a consumer feels in over his head with a situation, he should always consult an attorney.
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