A credit report is a summary of your financial reliability—for the most part, your history of paying debts and other bills. It is prepared by credit bureaus (also known as credit reporting agencies) primarily for use by lenders, employers and others who, under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), have a legitimate need for the information, such as when you apply for a loan, insurance policy, apartment or job. The wealth of information gathered by credit bureaus, coupled with the speed of today's computer systems, explains why consumers can quickly get loans and other services, including approvals of certain credit applications in minutes.
The FCRA gives you the right to dispute inaccuracies or omissions, and it requires credit bureaus to investigate your complaint (generally within 30 days), send you a prompt response and correct any errors. The law also requires the source of inaccurate information (such as a bank) to correct the record at the credit bureaus to which it initially provided the erroneous information.
Staff at the FTC, the government agency responsible for ensuring credit bureaus' compliance with federal laws, suggest the following: Immediately tell the credit bureau, in writing, about information you believe is incomplete or inaccurate. Include copies, NOT originals, of any documents that support your position. Clearly identify each item in your credit report that you dispute, state the facts and request a correction. Send your letter by certified mail and request a return receipt to document that your complaint arrived at the credit bureau. Keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures. Also contact the company that provided the inaccurate or incomplete information to the credit bureau and request a correction of its records, too. If a credit bureau's investigation does not resolve your concerns, the FCRA allows you to submit a brief statement about the matter, in 100 words or less, that must be attached to your credit report and provided to anyone that accesses your report in the future. This enables you to tell potential lenders or anyone else who sees your credit report your side of the story.
Note: While there are hundreds of other credit bureaus around the country, there is little reason for consumers to review and correct these credit reports, according to the FDIC's Herman. "Those smaller credit bureaus typically get most or all of their information from the big three," he says. "If you obtain copies of your credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion on a regular basis and you make sure they are accurate, it's likely you'll be addressing problems at other credit bureaus, too."
