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Will A Credit Report Error Cost You Your Personal Loan?"When I tried to get a loan to buy a car, I was rejected for having a delinquent account. I knew I paid all of my bills on time so I checked into it and discovered that the credit bureau had made a mistake on my report," goes the story that so many of us have heard in the news or from co-workers or in our circle of friends. People are being denied the credit they deserve due to simple errors. Obviously, mistakes are bound to happen since there are more than 190 million credit users in the United States alone. That's a lot of activity to accurately keep track of. But that doesn't mean you should let one of those mistakes cost you the things you want or need. Before you apply for a personal loan, particularly one for something important to you like a car or a vacation, you might want to check your report for problems. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) ensures that each person is given a fair shot at being approved for credit. To make sure that denials are made based on legitimate grounds, the law gives you the right to request a copy of your credit report. If you've been rejected for a loan or credit card within the last 60 days, you should be able to receive a copy for free. Most of the time, however, you may have to pay as much as $9 for your report. The investment, however, is well worth it, especially if there is an error. In order to receive a copy of your credit report you need to contact all three national credit bureaus. Each one maintains their own reports and a low credit score on one can ruin your chances of getting a personal loan, so you need to check all three. You can find all three agencies online: www.equifax.com (Equifax), www.experian.com (Experian), and www.transunion.com (Trans Union). When you receive your credit reports, go over them carefully. You want to make sure that nothing that should be on there is missing and that everything listed belongs there. You should also look at the list of recent inquiries and make sure that each of them can be accounted for. Remember that frequent inquiries does hurt your score, plus they can signal that someone is trying to take out credit in your name without your permission. Also, if you've had credit problems in the past, such as delinquencies or bankruptcies, make sure they are no longer being listed if they occurred more than 10 years ago. If you do find a problem, you should put it in writing and submit it to the appropriate credit bureau immediately. You may also want to send along any proof that you may have, such as credit card statements. The bureau must investigate your claim, unless it is deemed groundless, and issue a report within 30 days. The results must be provided to you in writing by the bureau. Additionally, you can try to resolve the problem directly with the creditor in the same manner. This method would be particularly apt if there are accounts listed on your report which do not belong to you. Simply disputing part of your credit report won't always generate favorable results. You may simply have to ask that a notice of your dispute be included in your file and in future reports. The quicker you act on an error, the better your chances of rectifying the problem, so you should regularly check your credit reports even when you aren't preparing to get a personal loan.
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