Credit Myth: The creditor assured me the mistake would be fixed.

Many times reviewing a client’s credit report reveals that an error remains on their report despite their impression that it was fixed by the creditor.  They are under the impression that because the creditor told them it was or would be fixed that the creditor would follow through. 

To avoid being unpleasantly surprised by this the next time you review your credit report, it is critical to do a couple of things when you are correcting information.  First, get it in writing.  If a creditor claims they will adjust something on your account, request that they send you something documenting the change in writing.  This is your evidence of the action they agreed to take and may save you a headache and another lengthy phone call later.

A word of caution:  if your credit report states that an account is in “dispute” for any reason, you won’t be able to close on a mortgage until this account is updated and the “dispute” note removed by the three credit bureaus.  This is a new Fannie/Freddie rule.  Updating this information at the bureau level, even if it is an error, could take months.  Keep this in mind when trying to fix errors and know that it might delay a mortgage transaction until it is resolved.

Second, get a free copy of your credit report to make sure it was corrected.  Keep in mind though that sometimes these corrections can take a month or two to be reflected on your report.  It is also a good idea to pull your free credit report from only one of the three bureaus at a time.  This way you can rotate which bureau you request it from to monitor your report more frequently.

If the mistake was not corrected by the creditor, write the credit bureaus.  Submit a request to the bureaus outlining specifically what information is inaccurate along with your evidence of the error and the error identified on a recent credit report.  We have a template letter for our clients if you ever need it.  You may also want to send the letter certified so that you can document the bureau(s) received your correspondence.

I can’t stress enough how critical it is to keep your credit report accurate.  When does my air conditioner break?  When it is hot out.  That is when I use it.  Treating my credit in a similar manner, only looking at it when I need it is not a wise strategy.

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