Your Credit Report
In today’s society, so much rests on the information contained in your credit report. It’s important when you apply for a loan, since the information in your credit report will determine whether you get the loan, and in most cases the interest rate you’ll pay—the better your credit score, the better your interest rate. But you may be surprised to learn that how much you pay for auto or homeowner’s insurance...even whether or not you get a job may rest on the information contained in your credit report. Like we said, it’s important.
Get a free credit report
If you don’t have a recent copy of your credit report, go to annualcreditreport.com and order one (you can also order it by phone, toll free at (877) 322-8228). You can get one free report from each of the three credit reporting agencies once per year. OK, we’ll wait.
Now that you have it, take a good long look. With any luck, everything will be just as you expect, with your accounts listed, the balances correct, the on-time status of your payments listed correctly.
Improve your credit score with Equidata
Your credit score is based on the information in your credit report. This information is put through a formula and a number between 300 and 900 which reflects your credit worthiness. The higher your score, the less you pay for loans...it's quite simple. We have partnered with Equidata to offer you tools to help monitor and improve your credit score, and try some "what-if" scenarios regarding how your credit score may be affected by certain courses of action you may be considering. Click here to take a look.
How to correct inaccurate information
Back to your credit report. If anything looks awry, you have the right to request it gets cleaned up. And it doesn’t have to be a difficult process. In fact, in many cases, you can set the record straight with one simple letter to the credit reporting agency.
There are three basic types of credit report inaccuracies:
- Missing accounts
- Errors related to your personal history, such as your current address
- Errors in your listed accounts
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA, the federal law which governs credit reporting), requires that credit reports be accurate and lays out specific procedures for you to follow if you do have errors on your report that need to be removed or corrected.
To add missing accounts, contact the credit reporting agency and the creditor and ask that your credit history be updated to show the missing account.
To remove an error in your credit report, send a letter to the credit reporting agency that clearly explains the error. Include copies of supporting documentation to support your assertion, such as payoff letters, copies of canceled checks, account statements, etc. You might want to include a copy of the credit report with the disputed items circled and noted, just to help make it very clear. Also, be sure to send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested so you’ll know that the letter is received.
You should also write to the creditor who reported the mistake, informing them of the error and requesting they correct it and not report it again.
The credit reporting agency now has 30 days to investigate. If they don’t agree with you, and will not remove a disputed entry, you may send a 100-word consumer statement along with a cover letter to the credit reporting agency asking that the statement be added to your credit report.
If you have any questions, or need any help understanding your credit report, don’t hesitate to ask us. We’re here to help!
