Make Sure Your Information Is Correct

People Are Fallible Check Their Work. The people who handle your report aren't immune to Murphy's Law (if anything can go wrong, it will). In fact, the process is ripe for mistakes-one out of four consumers is victims of mistakes on their credit report. Typographical errors, misspellings, erroneous information, omission of essential information... all can come back to haunt you on your credit report.

Up to YOU!
Only YOU Are Ultimately Responsible.

Who's responsible for catching the mistakes? YOU are, NOT the people who make the mistakes. The hard way to find out is when someone makes a decision to deny you credit, based on erroneous information. That is why credit counselors recommend that you review your credit report once a year.

Know Your Rights
And Fix the Goofs.

If you want to contest the completeness or accuracy of your report, file a dispute with the Credit Reporting Agency that provided the report, and with the company or creditor that furnished the information. Both the agency and the creditor are legally obligated to investigate your dispute. Request, in writing, an investigation that must be made within 30 days, explain the mistake and request that your report be corrected.

Begin Early
Credit Clean Up Can Take Weeks.

Be prepared, it can take weeks to get the erroneous information corrected on your report, so you're much better off getting started NOW. If you can't resolve the dispute, the creditor must report your dispute to the credit reporting agency.

You have a RIGHT to:

• Add a summary explanation to your credit report if your dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction.
  
  
• Request that new or corrected information be sent to any lender-- or ANYONE who has requested credit information in the previous six months, or to any employer who has received a credit report during the past two years.

What If It Isn't a Goof?

That's how to get the goofer-uppers to fix the goofs. Now what if YOU have been less than perfect?

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