Credit Reports

[Alan]

What types of errors have you seen in credit reports? I recently got a free copy of mine, and it listed an address I had lived in a city that I have never lived in. They corrected it when I told them, but it was very surprising to see it. It correctly listed my current address and 4 other places I had lived but had this whacko address as well.

 

[Sue J]

On my husband's credit report they had him with an additional name. When we had gotten a car loan they put the info in as "David" instead of "Donald". We had corrected the name with the car loan company (David can pay for the car if he'd like to, but if you want us to pay, please get the name correct) but then David showed up on the credit bureau. I called and had it corrected and it's been fine since then.

On one of my credit reports they had an additional address listed. The address was my son's dorm room at college. I had ordered a prescription for myself through our mail order pharmacy and it was sent by mistake to my son's dorm address because I had previously ordered prescriptions for him. What a screw up that was.

 

[Robert the Red]

My wife had herself listed as not paying property taxes on a piece of land she never owned in California. Was straightforward, if annoying, to correct -- we had to get (and pay for) 3 certified copies of the tax records for that parcel from the county in California -- which showed that nothing like her name was listed as the owner -- then send 1 to the credit bureau, 1 to our mortgage officer, and keep 1 ourselves.

 

[Alan]

The error I mentioned above was when I got a report on-line in June from Experion. I decided to get another one today but the other 2 are saying I have to apply by mail. I'll do this but the on-line option was obviously easier. Wonder what allows / disallows getting a report on-line? I've been at the same address for the last 4 years.

 

[tryan]

My wife had herself listed as not paying property taxes on a piece of land she never owned in California.

I feel your pain ... I got wacked for back taxes dating prior to my ownership. Apparently the city thought it would be easier to put a lein on all properties with back taxes - regardless of who owned it. Had to straightened the mess out before getting approved for a HELOC as the credit people zinged my credit. Good thing a municipal leins certificate was recorded at my closing documenting 0 back taxes ... then off to city hall for a release ... then back to the registry (first page cost $75 to record!) to record the release. Then letters to the big 3 credit companies.

Took a couple weeks, but they got it right.

 

[RunningBum]

I have someone's name and at one point had their Sears charge card on my record. It was current but had a balance. I think someone got a digit wrong on a SSN number, because they are in the state I was born in so the first few numbers are probably the same. The charge card is now off, but the name is still on. I know I filed a report once, and now when I tried to file again it said something about not being able to do it online. I didn't have time to call. I guess I'll have to do it again but I think it was an honest one-time mistake that doesn't seem to be hurting me.

 

[EngineeringMyFinances]

One of the three credit reporting agencies had someone else's credit history mixed up with mine. That person has the same first name, and apparently a social security number that differs by mine in only one digit. No similarities in our last names. Fortunately he was paying his bills, but I had his credit history removed from my report. I'm guessing that my FICO score went down as a result.

 

[Alan]

From the replies we're seeing, I guess it really is important to get the annual reports every year. I've started started requesting one from each agency every 3 or 4 months since you're allowed a free report once a year per agency

 

[Eyerishgold]

My childhood home is listed as one my wife's previous addresses. Don't know how that happened.

 

[gandalf42]

My childhood home is listed as one my wife's previous addresses. Don't know how that happened.

Maybe you should check if she's your sister.

 

[bssc]

My current address was listed as my parents. My current job was listed as one I held 30 years ago. The usual. I corrected the address but left the job.

 

[jazz4cash]

One bureau is reporting my Lowe's revolving charge credit limit as the high balance. I only use the card when they have a "same as cash" or other promotion for credit accounts and never have more than a few hundred dollar balance. I tried to get it fixed because I thought it might me lowering my score, but it probably has no affect since the balance is correct. They pretty much refused to fix the error, which reinforced my frim belief that credit scoring is basically a scam because they have no info on your assets and not much interest in the integrity of the data. There is value to monitor your reports to protect yourself from fraud and abuse. I subscribe to a 3 bureau monitoring service.

 

[volga]

Wonder if the credit reporting agencies can be sued for negligent misrepresentation if they get it wrong on their report on you and they sell that data to a business you are attempting to transact with?

 

[jazz4cash]

GIGO Rule Applies

Wonder if the credit reporting agencies can be sued for negligent misrepresentation if they get it wrong on their report on you and they sell that data to a business you are attempting to transact with?

Not hardly. The reports do contain disclaimers. They are simply reporting the info provided to them by the various subscribers....Garbage In = Garbage Out.