So, you’ve found
perfect home. You’ve already decided where to place each piece of your furniture inside
home, and in your mind, all of your family photographs are hanging alongside
stairwell. But wait—do you know that even if you believe that your credit report is spotless, it could negatively affect your chances of getting that home mortgage approval?The credit bureaus handle hundreds of thousands of credit reports, and it’s only logical that they will make mistakes. In fact, studies show us that there are some types of errors on at least 50 percent of all credit reports.
Could an error be lurking on your report?
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to ensure that your credit report reflects exactly what it should.
Step One: Avoid a Bad Credit Report by Requesting a Copy of It
Under
law, you are entitled to a copy of your credit report from each of
three credit reporting agencies. You should simply submit a request in writing or visit their web sites and request a copy.
Step Two: Check
Personal Information
Maybe your name is Jane Smith, but
agencies have you listed as Jayne Smith. If you don’t think that it matters, you’d better think again. If
agencies have a miss-spelling in your name,
wrong address, reversed digits on your social security number, or even wrong employer information, it could mean bad news for your report. If
person who they have you confused with makes a late payment, then it will appear on your report. What’s worse, if they file for bankruptcy or default on a car loan, it will take some time to sort out
erroneous information once it’s found its way onto your report. Avoid all of this, and report any bad information now.