People who are researching the credit reports and how the agencies formulate these lists can become overwhelmed. They may need to take some extra time to understand the importance of these reports and to identify how they come into being.
However, every consumer is perfectly capable of understanding their credit reports and what to do if they discover an error. A knowledgeable credit denial attorney could explain how to dispute errors on your credit report.
The Obligation of Credit Reporting Agencies to Provide an Accurate Report
The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a federal law that controls the actions of the credit reporting agencies. This collection of statutes obligates the credit reporting agencies to perform a variety of functions. However, the most relevant to consumers is the requirement that they provide an accurate credit report.
This involves a two-step process. The first is to produce a report that accurately reflects a person’s credit score. The second is to establish and follow through with a process whereby a consumer can point out an error and demand a remedy. As a result, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax all have their own processes where consumers can identify an error.
How Can a Consumer Demand a Fix?
The first step is to discover the error and why it occurred. Errors can take place at any point in the credit reporting process and may be the fault of a lender, the credit reporting agency, or even consumers themselves. However, just because an error is the result of consumer error does not mean that they are not entitled to a fix. For instance, if the error is the result of a consumer providing an incorrect birth date on a loan application, the credit reporting agencies have a duty to fix this error upon consumer request.
The second step is to identify which credit bureau has created the report that resulted in the error. Each of these agencies will have their own processes for requesting the change.
Finally, be sure to provide direct evidence as to why the error has occurred and demand a specific fix. For example, if a lender has incorrectly marked an account as in arrears, consumers should be prepared to include bank statements or payment confirmations to show that a payment was made on a specific date. Attaching this evidence to a demand for a fix can help to streamline the process.
Knowing How to Dispute Errors on Your Credit Report Can Help to Ensure Financial Wellbeing
Every consumer deserves to have an accurate credit report. For many people, this requires constant vigilance against errors that can occur at any stage during the process. If a consumer does identify an error, it is essential that they act quickly to demand a correction.
While this may seem like a complicated process, understanding how the process works can help to work towards a resolution. The three credit agencies are required under federal law to establish these processes. To ensure the best chance for success, consumers should be able to pinpoint the source of the error and provide evidence as to why that mark is incorrect. Armed with this information, anyone is capable of disputing an error on their credit reports on their own.