Two Ways To Handle Credit Report Errors

Imagine this. You have paid all your bills on time your entire life. You have carefully watched over your credit, nurturing it so that it would grow into a good credit score that you could rely on. Then you request a copy of your credit report, a formality really given your perfect payment history. You see that there is a mistake on your credit report. What do you do now?

You may not have a perfect credit history but anyone can have a mistake on your credit report. If you do then it you’re your responsibility to find it and fix it. There are two ways to go about this.

Go To The Credit Bureau

If the credit bureau has the mistake on file then it makes sense to go to them to work toward fixing that mistake. Credit bureaus run into situations like this so they know the procedure for addressing such claims. The problem that you may have is that this procedure may not always end up with the truth about your credit. It may not come out in your favour.

When you do file a dispute with a credit bureau over a mistake on your credit report then they will follow a fairly predictable course of action. They will contact the company that provided them with the information that is making your credit report look worse than it should. Unfortunately, when they do this, this company will often relay information to the credit bureau from their files.

These are, you will remember, the same files that had the erroneous information in the first place. Instead of vindicating yourself, this course of action might just lead to this company confirming your bad credit. Even if this information is not correct.

Go To The Company That Reported The Inaccurate Information

This is probably your best course of action. Starting off by contacting the company that is providing the information that is marring your credit report could end things quickly and easily. In some cases, a phone call will do.

Just explain your situation briefly and calmly to the company that reported the information. If your credit report says you have late payments and you have never had late payments then say that. Just inform the company what the problem is supposed to be according to your credit report and then tell them the truth of the matter.

These companies are not trying to damage your credit. Mistakes happen. You just need to confront the problem head on.

Even if you choose to go this route in handling the problem with your credit report, make sure that you dispute the error with the credit reporting agency. This way you ensure that you gain access to your full rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This means that any errors on your credit report will be corrected or deleted from your credit report and that this will be done in a timely manner. The results of this investigation will be sent to you as well.

There are two main ways to handle credit report errors but a combination of the two ways is usually best. You do want to contact the company that provided the erroneous information to take care of the problem on that end and you do want to file a dispute with the credit reporting agency. By doing both, you will help to ensure that your credit score is put right.