Repair Credit Report Errors Right Away

Why is it so important to spot and repair credit report errors? It may surprise you to know that of any four North American adults the odds are that one of them will have a serious error in their credit report. The big three credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) handle enormous amounts of information. A 2004 study found that 25 percent of credit reports surveyed had errors that were serious enough to cause a denial of credit to the consumer.

Some credit report errors may be totally erroneous and others may be due to some aberrant circumstance you encountered in the past. For items in your credit profile which you feel deserve further explanation (such as an account that was paid late due to the loss of job, military call up, or unexpected medical bills), you can send a brief statement to the appropriate credit reporting agency. The information will be placed in your credit profile and will be disclosed each time it is accessed.

Usually, consumers find out about errors in their credit reports after they're denied credit. Not only is this embarrassing for an individual, its also a double-whammy in that the denial will then show on the report as well which compounds the situation! For this reason it is important to spot credit report errors at the earliest possible time and then take action to fix those errors as soon as possible! If you've been turned down for a loan or line of credit within the past 60 days you have the right to a free report, but only once per year.

When you get your credit report, check it for the errors or negative comments that could cause you a denial of credit. Its important that you know your credit and financial history in order to cross check what you see on the report. It is equally important that you know how to read the language of credit reports and that you understand the 'R' Rating (North American Standard Account Ratings) system used. You may be surprised to know that most credit bureaus will remove items from your credit report if they do not have paper copies of your records ...but its up to you to spot those items first!

Credit reporting agencies will not act on your behalf to identify or repair problems within your report ...you must take the initiative to repair credit report problems. Credit reporting agencies simply collect data ...they do not verify or evaluate the information that is placed in their database.

For many reasons it is important to stay on top of your credit profile and spotting problems is right at the top so that you can repair any credit report errors before they cause you unwanted difficulty when you least want or need it!