Checking Your Credit Report for Errors

Did you know that potential employers and insurance companies may check your credit report before hiring you and when establishing how much you'll pay for insurance? Verifying the accuracy of your credit report is important for getting the best rates on loans, credit cards and other consumer services. Errors on your credit report can be detected during review of your free annual credit reports; it may not be necessary to pay for credit monitoring unless you're sure your credit or identity has been compromised.

Credit Report Information Can Vary

It's a good idea to order a credit report every year from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This will help reveal all potential errors, as some creditors may not report to all three of the major credit bureaus. Once you've received your credit reports, you'll want to verify:

Personal Identification information:

• Name, current address, and Social Security number
• Previous addresses
• Employers

If you're married, separated, or divorced, make sure that your credit reports reflect your appropriate legal status and name changes.

Credit Information:

Your credit report typically contains trade and credit lines open for the past ten years. Creditors are shown from the most recent to the oldest. It's important to review each entry for information on accounts including bank accounts, other deposits, credit cards, car loans, home loans, and student loans. For each account, you'll want to review:

• Name of creditor: this can vary due to mergers and sales by financial institutions.
• Creditor's address
• Credit limit
• Approximate balance owed: your credit report may not show most recent payment or charges.
• Payment status: You're looking for "paid as agreed" unless you know you've missed or made late payments. Review any negative information carefully; defaulted accounts can indicate identity theft or unauthorized use of your accounts.

It's important to ensure that this information is correct. If you have a common name, make sure that all accounts shown are yours and that account activity matches your records. If you find incorrect information, contact applicable credit bureaus using the contact information supplied with your credit report.

Public and Legal Records

This section of your credit report will show information including:

• Marriages, divorces, and legal separations
• Bankruptcy, foreclosure, and other legal proceedings and public records

Check all information on your credit reports carefully; inaccurate information can be a sign of identity theft.

Source:
How Credit Report Mistakes are Made

About the Author:
Karen Lawson started writing stories about birds and surfing at an early age. For more than ten years, she enjoyed a productive corporate career in mortgage banking before moving to Reno, Nevada in 1997. Karen earned BA and MA degrees in English (specializing in writing) at the University of Nevada. Significant areas of research and writing include truth and ethics in creative nonfiction, medical humanities, and the symbolism and lore of birds in American literature and culture. Karen has taught English at a community college, is writing a collection of poetry, and enjoys birdwatching and walking her basset hounds.