Credit Reporting Agencies

• The agencies also get information from public records. Their employees review them on a regular basis. That is where the information on bankruptcies, foreclosures, tax liens and judgments comes from. Millions of entries are updated every month. There are often numerous errors on your report.
  
  

Check Your Credit

• You should check your credit reports on a regular basis. Annualcreditreport.com allows you to get a free copy from each of the three agencies once a year. It is a good idea to look at one of the reports every four months. If you rotate through the three agencies, you can get a free report each time.
  
  

Clean Up Your Credit

• Carefully review your credit report and look for errors. The report comes with a form that allows you to question any errors and request that they be updated. The agency sends the request to the creditor, and the creditor has 30 days to respond. It usually takes about two months to get incorrect items corrected. The agency will mail you an updated report at that time. If there are still uncorrected items on your report, send it in again. If you are patient and persistent the errors will all be corrected.
  
  

Conclusion

• Keeping your credit report accurate can be a time consuming job. Unfortunately, the reports can have a profound influence on your life. One wrong item can cost you thousands of dollars in higher interest payments. In addition, it is possible that an error can prevent you from getting a loan approval. It is in your best interest to check your reports regularly.