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First of all, you need to understand that there are three major credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, and all three of them maintain an exhaustive credit history about you. But that is exactly where the similarities between them end. Yes, they all maintain your credit report, which in turn creates your credit score, but it is not unusual at all for all three of these to have different information about you, some of it WRONG, and therefore the credit score from all three is different. What happens is that all the creditors you currently have as well as all the ones you have ever had are listed there, along with your credit history. Your credit history shows information about how timely you were about making payments, how many times you were past due, how long you were past due, your average balance, and much more. The problem is that with the sheer volume of data that these credit bureaus must maintain about each and every consumer and business, it goes without saying that there are errors in your credit report from at least one or more of these credit bureaus. One of the things that compounds this problem is that some creditors only report to one of the bureaus, some report to two of them, and a select few will report to all three of them. Then they change contracts, and this year they are reporting to a different one than they did last year. Based on this and a variety of other factors, it is almost a guarantee that your credit report contains errors. You may be saying “so what”? That is the wrong attitude to take because errors on your credit report can affect you negatively in ways that you probably do not even realize. For example, in today’s business world, an employer will frequently run a credit check on an employee candidate before making them a job offer. If that person’s credit report comes back with a lot of negatives, then guess what – you will not be offered that job. Or in another situation, say you are shopping for a new car. Car loan rates are very competitive these days, but before you get a car loan, either from your bank, a local credit union, or even the car dealership, they will run a credit check on you, and if you have a lot of negative remarks on it, you may still get the loan but the interest rate that they will charge you will cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars more in interest by the time you have paid off that car at the end of the loan. So what you can do about this? You need to get a copy of your credit report, and get a separate copy from each of the three credit bureaus. Go over the report with a fine tooth comb and get a feel for how a potential lender would see this report if they were evaluating you as a loan candidate. If ANYTHING on that report is unfavorable, there are things you can do. Rather, there are things you MUST do, and do them quickly. There is a standard established procedure for disputing items on your credit report, and for having inaccurate, incorrect, and negative things removed. Doing so will put you in a much better financial light in terms of a credit risk. Please visit our web site for more information about how to win your disputes with the credit bureaus and improve your credit score. Jon is a computer engineer who maintains web sites on a variety of topics based on his knowledge and experience. You can read more about winning your credit bureau disputes and improving your credit score at his web site at Raise Your Credit Score.
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