| Review the report carefully, paying particular attention to the number of accounts, total account balances, and the timeliness of payments.
You have the right to question the accuracy of items reported on your credit report if you believe them to be incorrect. The credit reporting agency then must investigate any item you believe to be in error on your report within a reasonable period of time. Any errors that the agency finds must be corrected within a reasonable time period (normally within 30 days); any information on the report thought to be in error that cannot be verified as correct by the agency must be deleted from your record.
If the item in question is found to be correct, you have the right to add a personal statement on your credit report explaining what happened to cause the negative item.
Common reasons for errors are:
- Inconsistent reporting by creditors
- Wrong or misplaced dates
- Wrong amounts
- Double reporting
- Incorrect reporting due to common names
- Parents and students having the same address and name
- Incomplete reporting of demographic information
Items that are reported in error can be corrected, but it can take several months to have the corrections made. |
