One of the most essential parts of adulthood is your credit score. This number influences whether or not you can take out a loan, where you can live, and sometimes, whether or not you can receive a job. As such, ensuring you check your credit report frequently to look for errors and incorrect information is critical. However, many are unaware of how often they need to review this information. Keep reading to learn more about how frequently you should look and how a California inaccurate account information disputes lawyer can assist you in remedying any errors on your credit report.
Why Do I Need to Check My Credit Report?
Checking your credit report is an integral part of adulthood, as it helps ensure the information on your account is correct. If there is incorrect personal or financial information, it can inhibit your ability to receive loans you would otherwise qualify for.
When there is false account information, like listing closed accounts as open, including incorrect late payments, or adding duplicate accounts to your report, which makes it seem like you are carrying more debt than you are. The inclusion of this information on your credit report can lower your score, causing you to suffer.
Incorrect personal information, though it may not have a direct impact on your credit score, can still lead to the denial of your applications. This is because a wrong name, address, date of birth, or social security number can be flagged as inconsistencies, leading the lender to revoke your application.
How Often Should I Review This Information?
Unfortunately, many do not check their credit report as often as they should. Many only check right before applying for a loan or immediately after they are denied. Checking before can delay your approval if there is inaccurate information, and reviewing after can impact you negatively as the company completed a hard inquiry into your account.
By law, each of the three major credit reporting bureaus is required to provide consumers with one free copy of their credit report per year. As such, it’s recommended that you do not request all three at once but spread them out. This allows you to check your report every four months. Doing so allows you to keep a closer eye on your credit report and respond quicker to any inaccurate information. However, at the minimum, you should check your report once per year. Again, it is recommended to do so more frequently.
If you find inaccurate information while reviewing your credit report, you can file a dispute with the agency. If this goes ignored or unfixed, it’s critical to understand your rights. As such, connecting with an attorney from Loker Law is crucial, as they can help you remedy any issues with your report while recovering compensation if you’ve suffered damages. Contact our compassionate team today to learn how we can help you through these complex times.
