Credit Reporting Errors Are Common
In 2004 the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups, conducted a study on american consumer credit reports with a most alarming outcome. It discovered that 79 percent of all credit reports contain some type of error - and 25 percent contain such serious errors that those individuals could be denied credit.
Some of the most common credit reporting errors include:
-
- 54 percent contained inaccurate personal information such as misspelled names, wrong Social Security numbers, inaccurate birth dates, inaccurate information about a spouse and out of date address. For example, one credit report listed a man's business partner as his spouse.
- 30 percent listed "closed" accounts as "open." For example, listing a student loan that was paid off years ago as still outstanding. Another report listed several credit cards, a mortgage and an auto loan all as open.
|
In April 2009 - Rueters reported the following:
-
Errors on Credit Report Costing Consumers Billions Per Year -
"Over 100 million Americans are overpaying on their loans because of errors on their credit report. Worst of all, these
errors are fixable and consumers don't even realize it. "
|
-
- 22 percent of reports had the same mortgage or loan listed twice. This mistake often occurs when loans are serviced or sold.
-
- 8 percent of reports simply didn't list major credit, loan, mortgage or other accounts that could be used to demonstrate the creditworthiness of a consumer.
|
These errors can create the appearance of a consumer having "too much" credit available, being over-extended, or not having been a responsible payer of his or her obligations.
Is it the The "Big 3" credit reporting bureaus - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - fault for these mistakes?
Most mistakes are due to misinformation provided by your creditors and others providing information to the credit bureaus. Some reporting mistakes happen when credit accounts change hands, credit accounts are frequently bought and sold by banks and other financial institutions.
Some errors are intentional. The report by the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups, found that certain banks admitted to not furnishing bureaus with complete information on customers because of the expense incurred to maintain current records, among other reasons.
Some mistakes are simply human error. According to a credit bureau industry spokesman, the credit bureaus employ 30,000 data processors (approx.) who work on 4.5 billion updates to credit reports each month. This leaves considerable room for errors.
These errors on credit reports can cause consumers serious trouble. Many consumers probably don't realize just how serious.