Good credit is an important part of your overall financial
well-being. It can impact everything from the interest rates you'll pay to
being a prerequisite for employment. As a result, you'll want to try to fix any
errors on your credit report and have them removed as soon as possible.
Your first step should be to contact the credit reporting
agency in writing to indicate that you are disputing the information contained
on your credit report. The credit reporting agency usually has 30 days to
complete an investigation of the disputed information. Once the credit
reporting agency investigation is complete, they must provide you with written
results of their investigation.
If, during its investigation, the credit reporting agency
confirms that your credit report does contain errors, the information on your
report either must be removed or corrected.
If the investigation does not resolve the issue, you still
have a couple of options. First, you can try to mitigate the disputed
information by adding a 100-word consumer statement to your credit bureau file.
Even though consumer statements are often dismissed or ignored by potential
creditors, it can at least provide you with a chance to tell your side of the
story. You can also try to resolve the issue with the creditor that submitted
the inaccurate information in the first place. The creditor will be obligated
to investigate the disputed issue and notify you of its findings.
If you believe that the error is the result of identity
theft, you may need to take additional steps to try and resolve the issue, such
as placing a fraud alert or security freeze on your credit report. You can
visit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website at
www.ftc.gov for more
information on the various identity theft protections that might be available
to you.
Finally, due to the amount of paperwork and steps involved,
fixing a credit report error can often be a time-consuming and emotionally
draining process. If at any time you believe that your credit reporting rights
are being violated, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) at
www.consumerfinance.gov.
Source: Sean A. Henderson, Financial Advisor - Waddell & Reed
For more details he can be reached at 210-826-0685 ext: 140 or
cell: 210-784-6952 or email at shenderson@wradvisors.com
cell: 210-784-6952 or email at shenderson@wradvisors.com