FAQ ABOUT FAIR CREDIT REPORTING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS REGARDING
INACCURATE CREDIT REPORTS AND THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT
Q. What is a credit report?
A. A “credit report” is a document that normally contains your personal information (name, date of birth, social security number, address, etc) and information about your credit history such as the credit cards you have, the mortgages you have, and whether you have ever been late or been sent to collection.
Q. How do I get a copy of my credit report?
A. The easiest way is to go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp and fill out the online request for Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Or you can call the toll free number of 1-877-322-8228. Becareful not to sign up for services that you don't want. Many companies claim to offer free reports, and then you find that they billed you for some other service.
Q. Why is it important to get a copy of my credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union?
A. So many people and businesses judge us by what is on our credit reports. Obviously creditors do this – will they make us a loan or not make us a loan? Apartment complexes also look at credit reports to decide whether or not to lease an apartment to us. Even our jobs can look at our credit reports to see if we should be hired, promoted, or keep our security clearances. As one person described them, credit reports are the only report cards that matter for us as adults.
Q. Don’t the credit reporting agencies only keep accurate information on our credit reports?
A. Regardless of how damaging to your credit, accurate information will not be removed from your report. Most experts agree that about 70% of all credit reports have errors in the reports. Sometimes these are minor errors but other times these are major errors that can seriously impact our ability to obtain credit or employment. There is also a huge problem with identity theft and mixed files.
Q. What is identity theft?
A. Someone has taken your social security and/or accounting informaiton and used it to apply for credit or used your credit to make a purchase. They have stolen your identity. This new account will then show up on your credit reports and if it is not paid (and most thieves won’t pay it – they are thieves!) then you may have to deal with debt collectors or being sued for the accounts.
Q. What is a “mixed account?”
A. A mixed account or mixed filed or mis-merged file is where your information and someone else’s information (usually with similar name and social security number) have become “mixed” or combined so some of that person’s information is showing up on your credit reports.
Q. I have an error on my credit report, who do I contact?
A. While it is ok to contact the creditor or furnisher, you must contact one of the big three credit reporters to dispute the error. While you can dispute it online or by phone, we strongly urge you to only dispute it in writing by certified mail. Too many consumers have disputed it online and not by certified mail only to find that their disputes were ignored because the credit reporting agencies knew it could not be proven that they received the dispute.
