You Have A Legal Right To Accurate Credit Reports
You Have A Legal Right To Accurate Credit Reports
What does my credit report mean?
Now is the time to think about your credit report.
Your credit report is a snap shot of your credit history at a specific moment in time. This will greatly influence the financial terms you will receive when applying for credit.
Your credit report will also influence whether you will keep the credit you already have. And your reports can influence job promotions or even obtaining employment.
Because of the importance, you need to make sure you exercise your right to have accurate credit reports.
“I checked my report last year and it was fine, so I’m OK, right?”
Not really.
There are multiple credit reports and even if you are checking the same credit report you have to keep in mind that your credit reports ebb and flow continually as credit data is added and removed.
False information can get on your reports in a bunch of ways. It can submitted by furnishers, identity theft can occur, the credit reporting agency may confuse or mix your file with someone who has a similar name, etc.
Unless you check your reports consistently or have a monitoring service, there is no way to know when information is added or deleted from your credit reports.
When creditors (either new or existing) check your credit reports, they merely rely on the information already contained in your reports.
Credit scores are calculated based on the information in your reports. You’ll notice your credit scores differ based upon which report is pulled – this is because each report will have different information.
“Okay, how do I pull my reports?”
Pulling your credit report is easy. We recommend going to AnnualCreditReport.com to pull your report for free.
We also recommend ordering your report from Innovis.com to make sure you know what this “fourth” credit reporting agency is saying about you. You can also pull from SageStream.com which is a growing credit reporting agency.
“What do I do now to make sure I have accurate credit reports?”
Print out your reports and then carefully review every entry – addresses, names, social security numbers, accounts, etc.
If there is any false information, dispute it by sending in a dispute letter by certified mail directly to the credit reporting agency.
“What if I have a question about my reports, my dispute letters, or the responses I get back from my disputes?”
Simply contact us if you have any questions at any stage of the process. We often see clients who bring us their credit reports to help them understand what the reports mean.
We also see many clients who know what their credit reports say and know that there is false information on their credit reports. They just need help disputing the false information and we can certainly help with this.
Finally, we also see many consumers who wonder if they can sue as the credit reporting agencies did not correct their reports. Instead they leave false information on the reports. Even after the consumer disputed the false information with the credit reporting agencies.
Simply fill out the online contact form or call us at 205-879-2447, and we will be glad to schedule a free consultation with you.
I look forward to talking with you.
Have a great day.
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