February 11, 2013
Consumers may have trouble getting a bank loan or home mortgage because their credit report has errors.
The Federal Trade Commission reported today that 5% of consumers had errors on one of the three major credit reports that could result in less favorable loan terms.
Results of the study makes it clear that consumers need to check their credit reports regularly, especially before applying for a loan.
"If they don't, they are putting their pocketbooks at risk," says Howard Shelanski, director of the FTC's Bureau of Economics.
Although 21% of participants in the study found inaccuracies in their credit reports, the impact was generally modest or had no impact. But for a small number, the errors could have a serious impact.
Billions of individual pieces of data are received and processed each year by credit reporting agencies, so it is possible that reports have inaccurate information, says the Consumer Data Industry Association.
If consumers find an error, they should dispute the information with the credit reporting agency by phone or online.
One in five of consumers had an error that was corrected by the reporting agency after it was disputed, according to the FTC report.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...ports/1909529/
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The last line has me wondering... Does that mean the data wasnt changed for four other people? WOW!
Consumers may have trouble getting a bank loan or home mortgage because their credit report has errors.
The Federal Trade Commission reported today that 5% of consumers had errors on one of the three major credit reports that could result in less favorable loan terms.
Results of the study makes it clear that consumers need to check their credit reports regularly, especially before applying for a loan.
"If they don't, they are putting their pocketbooks at risk," says Howard Shelanski, director of the FTC's Bureau of Economics.
Although 21% of participants in the study found inaccuracies in their credit reports, the impact was generally modest or had no impact. But for a small number, the errors could have a serious impact.
Billions of individual pieces of data are received and processed each year by credit reporting agencies, so it is possible that reports have inaccurate information, says the Consumer Data Industry Association.
If consumers find an error, they should dispute the information with the credit reporting agency by phone or online.
One in five of consumers had an error that was corrected by the reporting agency after it was disputed, according to the FTC report.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...ports/1909529/
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The last line has me wondering... Does that mean the data wasnt changed for four other people? WOW!