As an adult, you understand how important your credit score is. Since its inception, these scores dictate what kind of homes you can live in, whether or not you can take out a car loan, and it can even impact your ability to secure certain types of employment. As such, you should regularly monitor your credit report to ensure there are no mistakes or discrepancies. However, you may not know how to check your reports or what errors to look out for. Keep reading to learn more about this and how a Los Angeles, California credit report lawyer can help if you’re having trouble.
How Do I Monitor My Credit Report?
Federal law allows you to request one copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus per year. You can request all three copies simultaneously, or you can order them over the course of a year, such as one report every four months. If you choose to request reports over the course of the year, you may find that this allows you to keep an eye on your credit report throughout the year.
Though you can receive three free credit reports throughout the year, requesting an additional copy will cost money. By law, the most a company can require you to pay for a credit report is $14.50.
What Errors Should I Look Out For?
When looking through your credit report, you may notice an overwhelming amount of information. As such, it is vital to understand what information you should look out for, as these inaccuracies can impact your credit score and ability to secure loans.
You should begin by examining your personal information. Should you notice that there is an address you never lived at or your date of birth is wrong, this information may be the deciding factor in whether or not you can secure a loan. Though this does not impact your credit score, it is still essential to remedy the errors.
Additional errors that can dramatically impact your credit score include listing late payments that don’t exist, incorrect debts on your report, listing accounts that have been closed as open, and inaccurately reporting the wrong credit limit.
What Should I Do if I Find an Error?
If you discover an error on your credit report, it is vital to contact the reporting agency to fix the information. You can initiate a dispute with the reporting bureaus. To do this, you must write a letter explaining what information you believe is wrong, why you believe it’s incorrect, and any proof you have of why this information is inaccurate. Finally, you’ll want to include copies of the report with the errors highlighted.
In the event that the credit reporting agencies do not fix the errors, you’ll want to reach out to an experienced attorney as soon as possible. At LA Legal Solutions, our dedicated legal team will examine your circumstances to help provide the best course of action.
