What causes credit report errors?

Your credit report is a history of your credit activity. There are three major credit reporting agencies:

• Equifax: http://www.equifax.com
• Experian: http://www.experian.com
• TransUnion: http://www.transunion.com

These agencies independently track credit information that comes from a broad range of creditors. Lenders use your credit report to evaluate their credit risk when considering your loan application. Errors on your credit report can have a negative impact on obtaining future credit. It is possible for errors to be made by both the credit reporting agency and the creditor. Checking each of these credit reports is important in order to maintain current and accurate information .

Some causes for credit report errors are:

• Human error – massive amounts of data are entered to update credit reports monthly; this allows for numerous errors from faulty information to clerical errors in reading or inputting information
• An individual applying for credit under several names that differ enough to cause confusion
• Two identical names, sometimes even in the same general area
• An inaccurate or misread identification number (such as a social security # or driver's license #)
• Debt payments applied to the wrong account and the consequent erroneous report to the credit agencies
• Credit accounts that change hands, increasing the possibility for errors
• Negative credit items, settled with the creditor, but not updated with the credit agencies
• Intentional errors