You cannot ignore your credit report.
It is the first requirement in whatever new financial decision you want to take.
The credit report is handled by the credit bureaus.
We are usually concerned with the 3 main credit bureaus- TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.
Any financial institution will report your credit transactions to either one, any two, or all three of these bureaus.
Maintaining a good credit report is solely your responsibility.
To be precise, if any error is found in your report, you are held responsible.
So, it is your duty to check your report from time to time for any mistake.
Your credit report is used to calculate your credit score.
You don't want to mess things up!
These are the common errors that sometimes may pop up in your credit report:
1. Your personal information:
Whenever you pull out your credit report, your personal information is usually visible on the first page;. unlike Experian, who gives a full detail of your information on the 7th or 8th page of your report.
The listings are:
- Name
- Address, Contact details
- Previous address
- Employment status
- Social Security Number (SSN)
- Social Insurance Number (SIN)
- Credit report number
Sometimes, your personal information might get a bit shabby. Say the address got changed with someone else or the S.S.N can get misprinted.
This happens because a credit bureau is not making a credit report only for you. Nearly everyone in the USA has to have a credit report.
So there are chances, that information may get switched.
Whenever you are checking your credit report, don’t forget to look out for your personal details. Make sure they are printed correctly.
2. Credit items, public records and trade information:
All your information about current credit accounts will be listed here.
It will also show your public records, or bad credit activity like late payments or defaulting.
Trade information, the status of payments, collections, chapters of bankruptcy, if any, will also be shown clearly.
Your public records will also show the name of attorneys you took help of.
Any mistake down here or any wrong information will highly affect your credit score and credit profile.
You should always check out this section minutely.
Some tips to avoid mistakes in this part:
- Every year download your free credit report and go through it for any significant changes.
- Try to maintain the same identity and write your name clearly while applying for any credit.
- Always provide correct information to banks and lenders.
- Don’t forget to report any account duplicity or account fraudulence to the credit bureaus.
- Check out the statement listing for any closed credit account. If you ever had debt settlement or debt consolidation, check out whether or not the account status is updated as - “Account closed at consumer’s request” or “Account disputed/settled by consumer”. If the account status is bearing a creditor’s name, it gives a negative ranking to your credit profile.
Beware of fraudulent account listings or account details of your ex-partner. Get it removed as soon as possible.
If you think your identity information has been hacked, then you can opt for credit freeze. With this procedure, you will be able to temporarily disable any third party access to your credit reports, till you sort out the problem.
3. Other little mistakes that count a lot:
There are often mistakes made by the bureaus or banks themselves.
For example, they put a wrong credit limit for a certain credit account, or a settled debt account appearing even after the credit reporting time has passed.
Or let’s say account duplicity, where information about a credit account is appearing more than once.
Also, hard inquiries falling under your name which you have not initiated.
These may seem to be small issues but it can affect your credit score a lot.
So, next time you encounter these mistakes, don't forget to note them down and report it to the respective bureaus.
To be honest, it is not always your fault or a creditor’s that a credit account or certain important information is showing errors on your credit report.
But what to do, it is our responsibility to take care of our credit profile.
So, you don’t need to freak out if you see any misprinted or wrong information.
Your credit report can be revised anytime you want. Download your one-time free report in every 12 months.
If the report seems to be clean and correct, then it’s okay.
If you find errors, don’t be late in disputing them!