As a consumer, whose payment patterns are detailed in credit reports, you are entitled to accuracy. The information in your credit report can affect new financial opportunities.

How Mistakes Happen
Despite efforts for accurate information, errors can and do appear in credit reports. Sometimes credit reporting agency's make mistakes when trying to be precise in an imprecise world. Are John, Jack, and Johnny--who live at the same address--the same person? Is the Mary Ellen Watson who lived in San Diego in 1989 the same as the Mary Ellen Watson who lived in Los Angeles in 1990? And is the Richard Martin on Willow Street the same as the Richard Martin on Willow Avenue?

Sometimes human error is at fault. A clerk, for example, might make a typographical error or misread a hand-written credit application. In both cases, an incorrect letter or number can become part of a credit file.

Sometimes consumers introduce errors into credit reports by obtaining credit under several names (Robert and Bob, for example, Margaret and Peg, or J. Michael and James Michael), providing an inaccurate Social Security number when applying for credit, or omitting the "Senior" or "Junior" when father and son share the same name.

Sometimes a consumer's payment history is reported incorrectly. That can occur because a payment is lost in the mail or applied to the wrong account.

Correcting Errors
Regardless of how errors are made, federal law allows consumers to challenge inaccuracies and correct their credit files. Accurate, up-to-date information:

• pinpoints your identity in the credit database
  
• ensures your credit report is complete
  
• prevents credit information of people with similar names and addresses from being mixed in with your credit history
  
• helps potential credit grantors make lending decisions fairly based on your true credit history

It doesn't cost you anything to dispute an inaccurate item in your credit file. Simply contact the credit bureau listed on your credit report to begin the process. Because of guidelines in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus must investigate errors within 30 days of receiving consumer comments about errors.

Streamlining Disputes
There are three major players in the credit reporting industry: Experian (formerly TRW), Equifax Inc., and Trans Union Corp. (addresses below). Most large credit grantors report their customers' bill-paying patterns to all three agencies. Therefore, an error in one agency's records may be repeated in the other two files.

In the past, consumers found it necessary to dispute the same piece of information three times. That, increasingly, is no longer necessary.

Today, when many credit grantors correct an error in their records, as a result of your dispute with one credit agency, they'll also automatically report the change to the other two major credit reporting agencies. However, check with each agency to make certain corrections were made.

You may then write or call for a free copy of your credit report.

Experian Consumer Assistance -- $9.63
PO Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
Telephone: 888-397-3742
http://www.experian.com/index.html

Equifax Information Service Center -- $9.50
Attention: Consumer Department
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
Telephone: 800/685-1111
http://www.equifax.com/

Trans Union -- $9.50
National Consumer Disclosure Center
PO Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
Telephone: 800/888-4213 or 800/916-8800
http://www.tuc.com/