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.
