Your credit report is an official financial document generated by reputable companies, so you might think it will always be an accurate representation of your borrowing history. But even these reputable companies can make mistakes.
The Importance of Your Credit Report, in a Nutshell
So, let’s get to the question of the hour: is your credit report important and do mistakes matter? The answer is an unequivocal yes on both accounts. This report plays a huge role in the chances you’ll get a loan in the future, and sometimes, it can even determine how much you pay.
Why? Well, consider your credit report a track record of your past borrowing behaviour. When future lenders check this record, they can safely predict how you’ll treat their loan on this history.
Late payments, chronic delinquencies, and charge-offs in your past are red flags to a lender—even if these happened years ago and you’ve improved since then. Depending on the severity of these entries, they might not approve you for a loan.
3 Common Mistakes That Can Show Up on Your Report
With so much riding on your report, it’s important you don’t have any incorrect information unfairly restricting your borrowing options. Watch out for these mistakes that can commonly interfere with your score.
1. Contact Information
Something as simple as a spelling error in your name, the wrong employer, or a flipped digit in your address can flag your application. These contact details (of which there are many) are designed to identify you and only you.
Inaccuracies here may be the result of a simple administrative error when someone entered your information. However, it can have a long-lasting impact on your file as these errors no longer identify you with precision.
Your file might have been mixed up with another borrower, so your score may calculate accounts you don’t own. Alternatively, your records might just look wrong since your information doesn’t line up. Either way, it’s enough to flag the system.
2. Account Status
Another common mistake is the account status, which is more than just one problem. This issue refers to any inaccuracies or errors relating to the reporting of your account status.
Here are some examples of these errors in action:
- An old account that is closed shows as still open.
- An account is listed more than once.
- Dates of last payment, delinquencies, and opening are incorrect.
- An account in good standing shows as delinquent.
Depending on the nature of this status error, it can have a huge impact on your score. Just one delinquency can tank the average person’s score by 180 points. That could be enough to drop you down a rating the next time you apply for financing, so you’ll want to address this right away.
3. Incorrect Accounts
One of the most worrying mistakes happens when you check your report, and you spot an application or account that you never approved. This can be a long-term result of incorrect personal information. If you and another person with similar contact details have been mixed up, your report could show something they own.
There’s also a chance that it’s fraud. In which case, someone has used your personal identity to open fraudulent payday cash advances or lines of credit in your name.
Don’t Sleep on These Mistakes
Dealing with an error in your report is annoying when you’re busy or burnt out, but you won’t want to procrastinate on this job for long. Incorrect information can interfere with your next loan. Reach out to the credit bureau that shows the inaccuracies to get to the bottom of these errors.