It is extremely important to check your credit report on a yearly basis. The three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion all offer a free report once a year. You should look through your report for any errors and take action to fix them as soon as possible. Even an error that seems small or insignificant can have an impact on your credit health, potentially negatively affecting your loan eligibility, ability to obtain new credit, and more.
Examples of common errors on credit reports include:
- Name, address, and SSN confusion
- Outdated information
- Incorrect payment status
- Mixed information (caused by identity theft)
- Remedied delinquencies that have not yet been recognized
- Mixed information from an ex-spouse
Every item on a credit report must meet three standards:
The first is that the item must be reported in a timely manner, following established time guidelines.
The second standards is that the entry must be 100 percent accurate. All reported information on an account, from the creditor’s name to the account’s status, balance, dates of activity, etc., must be free from error under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The final standard involves the verifiability of the item. If it cannot be proven accurate, it cannot be included in the credit report.
Any item included in a credit report that does not meet these standards must be deleted.
If your credit report contains information that you feel violates any one of the above standards, contact Atlas Consumer Law to speak with a skilled Chicago consumer lawyer. We are prepared to review your case and take action to protect your consumer rights.
Call our office today to speak with a lawyer. We can help you take action to dispute the error.