Credit Report Errors
Do Happen...Frequently

Many people erroneously believe that credit repair is for a minority of people and does not apply to them. After all, the credit bureaus are huge corporations whose sole business is the collection and distribution of consumer credit information. They are responsible for managing the financial data that dictates some of the very most important aspects of our lives such as whether or not we will be able to get a mortgage loan or even a promising new job. What are the odds that the credit bureaus would make a mistake when recording something so important?

Studies indicate that the odds of having errors on your credit reports are surprisingly high. In fact, a study performed by the United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) shows that as many as 79% of all credit reports contain errors. Using census estimates, this means that as many as 200 million Americans have errors on their credit reports that may be hurting their credit score.

Breakdown of Credit Report Errors

The report released by the U.S. PIRG titled "Mistakes Do Happen: A Look at Errors in Consumer Credit Reports" describes the results of survey involving adults in 30 states who were asked to order a copy of their credit reports and report on the accuracy of the items they contained.

After the data was compiled, some very interesting results were gleaned from the data. Listed below is a breakdown of the findings reported by the U.S. PIRG.

• 25% of the credit reports surveyed contained serious errors such as false delinquencies or accounts that did not belong to the consumer. These errors are severe enough to significantly damage a credit score and can result in denial of credit.
• 54% of the credit reports surveyed contained personal demographic information that was misspelled, severely outdated, applicable to another person or was otherwise incorrect.
• 22% of the credit reports surveyed listed the same loan or mortgage more than one time.
• 8% of the credit reports surveyed were missing major consumer accounts that demonstrate creditworthiness such as credit, loan, mortgage and other consumer accounts.
• 30% of the credit reports surveyed contained credit accounts that had been closed by the consumer but were still listed as open.

What Do These Credit Errors Mean to You

Just knowing how easily errors can end up on your credit report should be motivation enough to check you credit reports regularly. You want to be able to catch errors as soon as possible to keep your credit score where it should be and also as a way to identify identity theft. The last thing you want is to not find out there is a problem with your credit reports until you are denied a loan or mortgage.

Check your credit reports regularly and if you do find errors take solace in the fact that you have the right to dispute those errors. Knowing that the credit bureaus do make errors that adversely affect consumers, the Federal government allows consumers to dispute any items on their credit reports that they feel are "inaccurate, misleading or unverifiable". You can dispute these items on your own or by taking advantage of the expertise of a credit repair agency.