Errors in Credit Reports
Credit bureaus don't do a very good job of keeping accurate records. In fact, there's at minimum a 1 in 3 chance that your credit report contains inaccuracies ... and that's a LOW estimate. The Charles Givens organization estimates that a whopping 90% of credit reports contain inaccuracies!
So it's obvious that, even taking the minimum estimates, it's very probable that items in your credit report contain errors, or may not even be your accounts at all!
But the really scary part is ... even ONE mistake can cause you to be denied credit!
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
In 1972 the US Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to address these abuses.
This law empowers the consumer under Federal law in reference to credit reporting, among them the right to demand an investigation into the accuracy of any information in his credit report.
We Look Into Possible Errors on Your Credit Report
We are very familiar with your rights are under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and with the remedies available to you to make sure that everything in your credit report is being reported accurately.
We will review your credit report and look for items that we believe, based on our experience, have a high likelihood of inaccuracy. After identifying possible items of concern, we will guide you in contacting the credit bureaus to ask for verification, as required by the FCRA.
What Sorts of Errors Can Occur?
- Account details are not being reported correctly
- Wrong accounts
- Accounts you paid off are not being shown as paid off
- Account shows late payments that were not late
- Paid accounts reported as turned over for collection
- The details of a mortgage are being reported inaccurately
- You applied for an account but never opened it
- You made payments that were not credited to your account
- Incorrect employer information
- Salary is incorrect
- Wrong address
- Incorrect social security number
- Reports legal actions as pending that were already settled
- Credit limit amounts are incorrect
- Account closed by you is shown as closed by the merchant
- Report shows that you filed for bankruptcy when you did not
- An account was opened by your child in your nam
- Report shows a discharged bankruptcy as still pending
- Car loans were paid off but show as still open
- Report erroneously shows pending foreclosures
- Report erroneously shows pending legal actions
- Report shows settled foreclosures as still pending
We Arrange a Plan of Action
In consultation with you, we will prepare and implement a plan to help you validate the accuracy of all the accounts in your credit report ... to validate that it was really you who applied for all the accounts in question, and that everything about those accounts is being reported correctly.
We will guide you in execution of the action plan, and will work with you in the execution of the plan until everything in your credit report has been either validated or corrected.
We Examine Other Aspects in Your Credit Report As Well
Negative account information in your report isn’t the only factor that can cause problems with your credit score. Besides negative accounts, there are other factors that can bring down a credit score. Nevertheless, this is the point where a lot of "Credit Repair Agencies" stop!
But we do a great deal more than simply challenge account information in your credit report.
Were your aware that the number of requests for your credit report can damage your credit score? And since the credit bureaus have such a problem keeping accurate records, there's a high probability that requests were made that you did not authorize (as required by law).
Yet another matter that bears careful attention is the "debt ratio" ... your level of debt compared to your "credit limit." We also help you to adjust these levels to improve your credit score.
"Types" of debt also affect your credit score. Too many debts of the same type (revolving or installment debt) also hurt your credit score. We'll look closely at this issue and help you to reach a better balance. |
