| Millions of Americans are tripped up every year by old | | | | may notice that simply disputing a claim will get it |
| errors on their reports when trying to boost their credit | | | | removed, since the credit bureaus will not necessarily |
| score. It could be a matter of a disputed phone bill or a | | | | look up something that is a low balance, minor |
| serious case of identity theft - whatever the reason | | | | infraction from a long time ago. |
| for your lowered score, it is important to clean up | | | | What to Correct and What to Ignore |
| credit report errors as soon as possible. | | | | While there are a number of issues that you need to |
| Analyzing Your Credit Score | | | | work to fix, not every mistake on your credit report |
| One of the first things to do is to analyze your current | | | | deserves your full attention. When trying to clean up |
| score. By knowing what your current status is with the | | | | credit report errors, make sure you don't rock the boat. |
| credit reporting bureaus, it will be easier to understand | | | | Fixing old things like a wrong address, or a misspelling |
| why your score might be hurting. Look for any errors | | | | of your name can cause your score to go down |
| that have been reported in the past, and if they are | | | | slightly. Unless you're on the hook for a bill or liability |
| unjust, make sure you record them and do some | | | | that is not yours, do not push too hard or you may |
| research into whether it is in fact a problem you had, | | | | cause yourself more trouble than it is worth. |
| or a mistake made by a card company or collection | | | | If you're serious about returning your credit score to |
| agency somewhere. | | | | the 700+ status you know you deserve, it's time to |
| Fixing Old Issues | | | | start taking action. You're never going to get it up there |
| Start out by fixing the old issues that have been | | | | if you have multiple negative items on your report that |
| lingering. If you have a late payment on your history for | | | | were not your fault. Grab the phone, do some calling |
| a card you still have from five years ago, consider | | | | and start pushing the bureaus to fix the issues before |
| calling and asking to have it removed. Many times, if | | | | they seriously affect your ability to obtain credit in the |
| you have maintained a good history with that | | | | future. |
| company, they will help you out. In other cases, you | | | | |