Clearly Outline The Information You Believe To Be Incorrect Or Inaccurate

Category: Finance, Credit.

Vital personal information such as where you live, your place of employment, your bill paying methods, and whether you ve ever been arrested or declared bankruptcy is all contained within your credit report. Your credit score is used by lenders to determine interest rates for mortgages and other loans.

This information is vital because it can affect som many areas of your life. Employers are allowed to check credit reports before offering employment. Even if you ve never been in an accident or received a ticket, you may still find yourself paying higher rates for insurance. And increasingly, auto insurance companies are checking credit reports before determining policy premiums. There are three major credit reporting agencies that gather your financial information and provide your credit report to lenders, employers and other, insurers businesses that have a legal right to access your report. You should be aware that you are entitled, to one free, under federal law copy of your report from each of these agencies annually.

These three major companies are Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. Consumers should get a one copy from each agency because they all get their information from different sources at different times of the month and each report may differ slightly from the other. Checking your credit reports regularly is clearly very important, given the information they contain. It s recommended to stagger your requests so that you receive the reports separately, one report approximately every four months. When looking over each report, make sure that all the information is accurate and up to date. This can be a sign of identity theft. You should also check for any charges or accounts you don t recognize.

If your personal information, such as your social security number or credit card number is stolen, any fradulent charges or accounts will appear on your credit report. The consumer reporting company should be notified in writing. If any inaccurate information is found on your report, it should be reported immediately. Clearly outline the information you believe to be incorrect or inaccurate. The reporting agency is required to investigate your claims. Provide as much detail as possible to back up your statements.

The company that provided the inaccurate information to the reporting agency will receive a copy of your dispute as well. In the event that the investigation does not find that the information is inaccurate, you may ask to have your statement attached to your credit report. If the information is determined to be inaccurate, the provider is required to notify all three reporting agencies of the correction. This will allow anyone who looks over your report to see that you have disputed the item and the reasons for your dispute.