Are Credit Report Mistakes Costing You?

WHY IT MATTERS

“These are eye opening numbers for American consumers. The results of this first of its kind study make it clear that consumers should check their credit reports regularly. If they don’t they are potentially putting their pocketbooks at risk.”
– Howard Shelanski, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics

Your credit score comes from several pieces of information about you including whether you make payments on time and how much you spend. Nowadays just about everyone, from landlords to lenders, judges you based on your credit score. In part because credit companies, like banks, have been so inundated during the past few years, 1 in 5 of us now have mistakes in our credit reports.

If you happen to be that 1 in 5, mistakes made by the credit company may be costing you hard earned money. For example, the difference between a 698 and a 700 credit score on a $150,000 mortgage will cost you $10,000.00 in extra interest.

Because your credit score is so important to your wallet and prosperity, Congress has passed the Credit Accountability, Responsibility Disclosure Act (CARD). Now you have the legal right to get your credit report FOR FREE at www.annualcreditreport.com. And, when you report a mistake, the credit companies are legally required to promptly fix it. Also ask about “Rapid Re-Scoring” to have mistakes fixed in a matter of days. And practice reviewing your credit report at the same time you file your tax returns as a simple way to remind yourself to do it.

According to the FTC report, by taking these simple steps, 1 in 20 consumers had a credit score change as high 25 points and 1 in 250 had a credit score change as high as over 100 points!

Read the full FTC report.

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