Some Common Credit Report Errors

The reasons for errors on report can be many. They can be as trivial as two people having the same name or family members getting their reports mixed up. Incorrectly entered information in the application will get read erroneously and wrongly interpreted or not interpreted at all.
These will be reflected in your report as inaccurate information. The credit report error can be more disastrous if the social security number is entered wrong than having a miss spelt name or address.

Sometimes the errors on the credit part of your report originate from the lapses of the creditors too. If they have not provided the information on time or provided false information, errors creep in. Other factors like the case of identity theft also contributes for the credit report errors. You will know of about the error, rather the fraud only after it has been completed. The most common of identity theft case is, a credit account is opened in the name of victim and fraudulently used by the identity thief. Some errors creep in even while entering the information into your file and still more may occur if the credit reporting company out sources the job.

Many times the old and closed credit accounts continue to show up in your report. This can be because of lethargy the credit companies develop. They may report this late or never at all. You will come to know of this error in your credit report only after they crept into the report.

Disputing Credit Report Errors

Federal Fair Credit Rating Act provides that everyone is entitled to an accurate credit report and in obtaining that any one who thinks his/her report does not reflect complete truth may dispute the report. You have to lodge a dispute in writing, with the credit reporting company at the address given in your report or with the information provider. Include copies of documents to support your claims. FCRA makes it mandatory for every credit reporting company to issue one free report every year and in addition to this, another free report whenever there is a change or deletion while correcting credit report errors. Your agency is obliged to undertake investigation within 30 days, unless your dispute is frivolous.

There are about 10,000 disputes received by the three consumer reporting companies daily. Add to this, the renewal request and all the investigations they have to make. So it is possible that the errors continue unless they are taken up quickly with the reporting companies.