Probably everyone knows that there are three major credit bureaus in the US, which are Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax. People know these three credit bureaus gather information about you on a regular basis from all your accounts, paid and unpaid, and just about any financial obligation you have. But unfortunately, that is pretty much where the knowledge of the vast majority of consumers ends.
As just as unfortunate, there is MUCH more to the story. In fact, there is actually a DARK side to the story, which is something that most people don't know about, and does not get resolved automatically. The only way to resolve the problem is for YOU to take action to get it resolved.
The secret is that your credit report contains errors, almost guaranteed. There are probably accounts listed there that you closed years ago that are still showing an outstanding unpaid balance. There may be accounts on your credit report that do not even belong to you, but someone with a similar name in a different city, or perhaps someone that has a social security number that is just a couple of digits off from yours, where the error was made during manual data entry. You may have accounts listed there that are showing you as consistently late with your payments, where you know for a fact that you have made each and every payment promptly since the beginning of time.
There is yet another secret also the three credit bureaus almost certainly have three very different pictures of who you are and your financial information. They do not share information amongst themselves. Some of your creditors may only report to one of them, some may report to two of them, some (like your mortgage company) may report to all three of them every month. And some of your creditors who reported to one of them last year are now reporting to a different one this year.
What this all adds up to mean is two things. First, not one of the credit bureaus has an accurate or completely correct version of you to be able to accurately and fairly assign you with a credit score or credit rating. Secondly, with a credit score lower than what you really deserve, you may be treated like a second class citizen the next time you apply for credit, whether at a department store, or for a new car, or for that new mortgage, where the end result is that you may not get approved at all, or if you do, the interest rate they will charge you will be astronomical.
The sad and scary thing about all of this is that it happens every day, it is happening right now as you are reading this, and worst of all, there is something you can do about it.
There are multiple things you can do to get your credit report corrected, and it is something that you need to start on, right now, and make it a regular part of what you do every month. It does not happen overnight, but you need to get the wheels rolling in your favor.
Take action now to get your credit report corrected so that your credit score and the credit rating you are assigned is a true reflection of who you are, which in the long run, can save you hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
As just as unfortunate, there is MUCH more to the story. In fact, there is actually a DARK side to the story, which is something that most people don't know about, and does not get resolved automatically. The only way to resolve the problem is for YOU to take action to get it resolved.
The secret is that your credit report contains errors, almost guaranteed. There are probably accounts listed there that you closed years ago that are still showing an outstanding unpaid balance. There may be accounts on your credit report that do not even belong to you, but someone with a similar name in a different city, or perhaps someone that has a social security number that is just a couple of digits off from yours, where the error was made during manual data entry. You may have accounts listed there that are showing you as consistently late with your payments, where you know for a fact that you have made each and every payment promptly since the beginning of time.
There is yet another secret also the three credit bureaus almost certainly have three very different pictures of who you are and your financial information. They do not share information amongst themselves. Some of your creditors may only report to one of them, some may report to two of them, some (like your mortgage company) may report to all three of them every month. And some of your creditors who reported to one of them last year are now reporting to a different one this year.
What this all adds up to mean is two things. First, not one of the credit bureaus has an accurate or completely correct version of you to be able to accurately and fairly assign you with a credit score or credit rating. Secondly, with a credit score lower than what you really deserve, you may be treated like a second class citizen the next time you apply for credit, whether at a department store, or for a new car, or for that new mortgage, where the end result is that you may not get approved at all, or if you do, the interest rate they will charge you will be astronomical.
The sad and scary thing about all of this is that it happens every day, it is happening right now as you are reading this, and worst of all, there is something you can do about it.
There are multiple things you can do to get your credit report corrected, and it is something that you need to start on, right now, and make it a regular part of what you do every month. It does not happen overnight, but you need to get the wheels rolling in your favor.
Take action now to get your credit report corrected so that your credit score and the credit rating you are assigned is a true reflection of who you are, which in the long run, can save you hundreds and even thousands of dollars.