What to Do if Your Credit R...

Credit reporting agencies are not infallible, many make mistakes, some because your name or social security number is close to anothers or someone stole your identity but what ever the reason, you may find that your credit report has some mistakes that need to be fixed to ensure that you have the credit rating you deserve. In order to do this you will need to know what to do about this problem.

Here is a list of things you should look for on your credit report:

1. Look for things that are out of date, usually the credit reporting agency will remove items that are over 7 years old such as lawsuits, late payments to accounts, and other bad credit issues. Also check and make sure that bankrupsies have been removed that are older than 10 years old. Also get rid of credit inquiries that are over two years old.

2. Check to make sure tht your name is correct, that the phone number and address that they have for you is correct and that your employment information is correct as well.

3. Be sure if there is a bankrupcy listed on your credit report that it is identified by the chapter number you filed.

4. Be sure that there is no lawsuits or accounts which do not belong to you, or that any of the accounts you closed are not open. You also want to ensure that any payments that they say are late are not ones you actually paid on time.

5. Be sure that if an account is only listed one time on your credit report if it is yours.

6. If you did close an account be sure that it says it was closed by you.

Once you have checked out your credit report, you will need to have any problems reinvestigated, nowadays you can do that at the website of each of the credit reporting agencies. It can be done quickly by saying that you want to dispute the item and telling them briefly why you are disputing this item. If you havent heard from them after waiting 30 days then send them a letter to tell them that you have made the request and ask them to move the process along,

Keep in mind however that Credit bureaus do not automatically remove an item however in most cases they will remove it if it is more of a problem to investigate than to leave it on your report. If they do find that the bill or the payment information does belong to you, you may contact them to discuss it further. If that does not work, you can add a summary to your credit report that will be seen by anyone who asks to see your report.