How to Deal with Credit Report Errors

Thousands of Canadians have credit report errors on their credit reports – the scary part is many of them don’t even know it.

Credit report errors most commonly occur when your creditors don’t accurately report information to your credit report. The reason credit report errors are so common is because the data is reported electronically by your creditor to your credit report.

You may be getting declined for credit or quoted higher interest rates on credit because of credit report errors and new lenders you apply to for credit are not allowed to tell you what's on your credit, so it won't be pointed out to you.

The most common types of credit report errors are payments and settlements that have not been reported. The only way to avoid credit report errors is to know what's being reported to your credit report. The first step you have to take if you want to avoid credit report errors is to request your credit report from both Equifax and TransUnion.

Credit report errors can be extremely difficult to get resolved because Equifax will require evidence from you to support that there is an error and if you don’t have it or they won’t accept what you provide you then have to rely on your creditor to report the correct information. Creditors can take months to do so, if they do so at all.

The only way to get credit report errors corrected quickly is to know your rights and to dedicate the time needed to accomplish the task.

1.      The Ministry of Consumer Services is the ministry responsible for the Consumer Reporting Act which is the legislation that consumer reporting agencies like Equifax and TransUnion, as well as your creditors, must follow when reporting your personal information.

2.      Any communication concerning corrections that are needed should be sent in writing and should be sent by registered mail.

3.      You must know the timelines in which you should expect credit report errors to be updated, make sure that you request your credit report to ensure that they have been made and if they have not follow up again in writing.

Failing to ensure that there are no errors reporting to your credit report can have serious consequences. Not just because you may not be able to obtain the credit you need but also because you will most certainly pay higher interest rates on credit products if lenders view the credit report errors as derogatory which could cost you thousands of dollars or more.

If you are thinking right now that you don’t have the time, energy or know-how to take on your credit report errors on your own – you are not alone. Many who advertise ‘fix your credit’ programs are actually companies looking to see you deal with credit problems through a bankruptcy or credit counselling. We take the position that credit errors are credit errors – not bad credit - even bad credit can be addressed using various financial strategies that do not involve bankruptcy. Following the Consumer Reporting Act and leveraging our in-house legal counsel, we fight Equifax, fight your creditors and get your credit fixed.

If you need to fix credit report errors on your credit report, contact DebtCare Canada today by calling 888-890-0888.