Don’t let an inaccurate credit reporting blemish your credit ratings

Check your credit history before applying for any new credit. Your future lenders will review your credit ratings thorough and figure out if they should be extending any new credit to you. If you are alert about your credit ratings and check your credit history before any negative item starts hurting your credit potential, you will be able to fix up everything in the right time and won’t be denied by your future lenders.

Credit reporting agencies handle zillions and zillions of consumers’ files. Since they are handling such a huge database, the errors are expected on a consumer’s credit copy. As an individual, you have to be concerned about your credit ratings and fix credit report in the right time. There were some cases where a person reviewing his credit report discovered that he was listed as deceased on his credit copy. Someone with the same name had died and the credit reporting agency recorded the information on the wrong report.

The most common mistake made by the credit reporting agencies is listing items on your credit report that don’t belong to you. If your name is very common, you can expect these kinds of errors more often.

Fix credit report before it gets too late and you are denied of new credit by your potential lenders. They will report inquiries on your credit report. Any future lender viewing your credit file will see you being denied credit by a lender which you may have never applied for the credit. You should be able to take care of these inaccuracies in the right time.

How you can set these records straight: The moment you find any error on your credit copy, you should contact the credit reporting agency and dispute the item. As per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit bureaus are legally required to report accurate information from your information providers. If you think the item(s) are reported incorrectly, they should be removed from your file immediately after investigating with the information providers. You can file a dispute online, by phone or by a certified letter. Your letter should include the following information.

• Your complete name and address, date of birth and the social security number.
• The item that you are disputing along with the name of the company.
• Your reasons of filing the dispute, any correction to your personal information and a request for the correction.

If you have documentations to back up your dispute, it will speed up the process. The credit reporting agency will verify the information from your credit grantors. If they are unable to verify it, the item has to be deleted from your credit copy. If the investigation done could not bring out any positive results in your favor, you can ask the credit bureau to publish your 100 word statement on your credit report that will define your reasons of disputing the item.

Accurate negative information will stay on the credit report for seven years. If you have filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy, it will stay for ten years. If you have certain accurate negative information, it will stay for seven years and you will have to live with it. The best way to prevent your credit ratings from getting spoilt is to pay your bills on time and start building a spotless record.