Tia Bracey

It canít be! Your credit is spotless! You request a copy of your credit report and discover that several accounts which you had paid off on time were listed as having been ìcharged offî by the businesses and other accounts are incorrectly listed as being in collection.

Mistakes on credit reports are common. A recent magazine article stated that one-half of the credit reports they surveyed had serious errors in them. Such errors can result in a consumer being denied a job or credit for a home or vehicle purchase. Often these mistakes are discovered so late in the credit-applying process that the credit report cannot be corrected in time. Thus the consumer loses the perfect job or the dream home. It is imperative that all consumers check their credit reports regularly, especially prior to applying for a major loan or mortgage.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies ó Equifax, Experian and TransUnion ó to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. You are also entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you have been denied credit and the company denying you credit informs you that the denial was as a result of an entry on your credit report, or if you are the victim of fraud, are unemployed, or are on welfare. You can order your free annual credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling 1-877-322-8228, or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form found at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/include/requestformfinal.pdf and mailing the form to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, Ga., 30348-5281. The Federal Trade Commission advises consumers who order their free annual credit reports online to be sure to correctly spell www.annualcreditreport.com or link to it from the Federal Trade Commissionís Website at www.ftc.gov to avoid being misdirected to other Websites that offer supposedly free reports, but only with the purchase of other products.

A credit report contains information about how you have handled your credit in the past, to include your payment history, accounts written off by businesses for nonpayment, bankruptcies, court judgments, and tax liens. The creditors provide this information to the credit reporting agencies that issue the credit reports. The credit reporting agencies also get information from public records such as tax lien and judgment records. The credit reporting agencies then sell their credit reports to employers, landlords, credit grantors and others who want to learn about your creditworthiness. The credit report that you request from the credit reporting agency will have a complete listing of all credit entries, codes used, and a list of companies who have requested you credit information in the past.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act provides the following process for correcting erroneous entries on credit reports:

ï Write to the credit reporting agency to inform the personnel which entries on the credit report are wrong and why. Include copies of important papers proving your position. Keep a copy of the letter for your records.

ï The credit reporting agency has to contact the company that reported the credit information and investigate, all within 30 days.

ï If the credit reporting agency cannot verify the credit information, it must be deleted from your credit report within seven days. Also, within seven days, the credit reporting agency must mail a written correction notice to you and each person who received a copy of the report containing erroneous information.

ï If the credit entry is verified to be correct, the credit reporting agency must provide you written notice of its findings. If you disagree with the findings, you may file a statement of 100 words or less explaining your position on the matter. Your statement then becomes part of your credit report and will be mailed to any party requesting a copy of your credit report.

Be wary of credit repair companies claiming to ìclean upî bad credit reports. These companies can do no more for you than what you can do for yourself as described under the Fair Credit Reporting Act information above.

No one can remove negative credit information that is correct. Such negative credit is a historical record that cannot be erased. Therefore, it is important to pay off accounts in a timely fashion to protect your credit rating. It may also be desirable to add credit information to your file. Large companies regularly report credit activity to the credit reporting agencies. However, small creditors may not readily report such data. If you have favorable information that has not been reported, and you are denied credit because of insufficient credit data, you may want to provide this additional good credit information to the credit reporting agency. Some credit reporting agencies may charge a fee for the addition of such information.

For more information about legal issues, call the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Legal Assistance Office at 782-1550.