Few mishaps cause more headaches than credit reporting errors. They are difficult to fix and can adversely affect someone’s credit report for years. Consumers do have some remedies for getting these errors corrected, however.
The first and best defense against reporting errors is for a consumer to get a credit report every year or two and check it for errors. These are available from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. If someone has been denied credit, a report is free of charge. Otherwise, the companies charge a fee to generate the reports.
The consumer should look at the reports and check every account name and number with those on his credit cards. They should match. If they do not, he should contact the credit card company and see if they have the correct information. If they do not, he can get it corrected there, and it should be reflected when the company next updates with the reporting agencies. If it isn’t their error, he needs to contact the reporting agencies and send them a copy of a recent statement with the correct information so they can have it updated.
The consumer should then look for accounts he no longer uses, or thought he closed, and should make sure these accounts are closed. He will probably have to contact the company to do this, but he needs to do so in order to make certain no charges are applied to these accounts. He may have to request a letter of closure from the company and send copies to the reporting agencies to get the information updated.
The above mistakes are relatively simple to fix. The ones that cause the problems are those that include mistakes in balance amounts, accounts the consumer did not open and other like problems. These can be extremely difficult to fix and may require legal assistance.
However, the consumer does have some first-line options. If a balance is incorrect, or the account reflects delinquent payments when there were none, the consumer should contact the company issuing the credit card. He should ask when payments were late, and should have copies of statements on hand showing that payments were regularly received, and on-time. He should then request the company send a letter to the reporting agencies to have the bad information removed. He can also send a copy of a statement showing the current balance to the reporting agencies.
Sometimes, someone with the same name will have an account listed on a consumer’s report. He should immediately call the credit card company and ask to have this information removed, and should ask them to send him and the reporting agencies a letter confirming all personal information and Social Security numbers, and to ask the reporting agencies to update their files accordingly. Even if the account is one the consumer did not open, he should try to resolve the problem with the credit card company and reporting agencies first.
The consumer should make an effort to solve these problems at a personal level first. He needs to save all paperwork and communications he receives from the credit card company or reporting agencies. He should have dates on everything he sends or receives from the companies, and copies, as well. The consumer should also make certain he never makes any kind of threat, whether implied or overt. He can say he will consult an attorney or that he will report a company to the Federal Trade Commission, but beyond that, should not make any kind of statements about what actions he will take if the problem is not resolved. People have been arrested for this kind of behavior.
For any questions concerning fraud or identity theft, a consumer should immediately consult an attorney for advice. These are issues that most consumers cannot deal with independently and for any kind of favorable outcome, the consumer needs to involve an attorney.
Keeping an eye on credit reports is the best way to guard against errors, and to resolve them before they become problematic. However, if a consumer feels he is over his head with a situation, he should always consult an attorney.
