It may seem tedious and you may want to put it off for another day. But it really is a smart idea to check your credit report for errors.
The Federal Trade Commission found that five percent of consumers had errors on their credit reports.
These errors downgrade your credit score and can affect the way you’re treated by bankers, insurers, car dealers, landlords and the entire financial world that uses credit reports as a measurement for your credit-worthiness.
Three private companies, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax collect information and create separate credit reports. You can view those reports for FREE three times a year at annualcreditreport.com
“These are eye-opening numbers for American consumers,” said Howard Shelanski, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics. “The results of this first-of-its-kind study make it clear that consumers should check their credit reports regularly. If they don’t, they are potentially putting their pocketbooks at risk.”
ADDITIONAL FINDINGS
- One in four consumers identified errors on their credit reports that might affect their credit scores
- One in five consumers had an error that was corrected by a credit reporting agency (CRA) after it was disputed, on at least one of their three credit reports
- Four out of five consumers who filed disputes experienced some modification to their credit report
- Slightly more than one in 10 consumers saw a change in their credit score after the CRAs modified errors on their credit report
- Approximately one in 20 consumers had a maximum score change of more than 25 points and only one in 250 consumers had a maximum score change of more than 100 points.
If you find something wrong on your credit report dispute it in writing. Our video How to Fix My Credit-No Lies walks you through the process.
