Now that you have your credit reports, it’s time to conduct a thorough review to make sure that your Credit Reports are accurate.
You want to review and identify any negative marks that are misleading, inaccurate, incomplete, unverifiable, or untimely.
Make a list of any and all negative remarks so that you know what you are going to dispute at the end of your review.
Here is a Complete Checklist of What to Look For:
Personal Information:
- Make sure to identify any aliases and/or name variations that you do not use
- Verify current and previous addresses
- Verify your your Social Security number
Payment history:
- Make note of any missed payment errors or late payment errors that you know are being reported inaccurately
Inaccurate Balances:
- Take note of High Credit Limits and Low Credit Limits that are being reported inaccurately as this may negatively affect your Debt-to-Income-Ratio
Outdated Account Status:
- Make sure that your accounts are in a correct Status: NEW ACCOUNT; DEFAULT; SETTLED; CLOSED, as the wrong STATUS may negatively affect your ability to qualify for new credit, may lower your credit score, and lower your credit limits
Negative Remarks Past the Time Limits:
- Negative remarks generally fall off of your credit report after seven years
- Judgments generally abide by the statute of limitations
- Bankruptcies can stay on your credit for up to 10 years
- Other items to consider are liens and foreclosures
- Any item past the limits should be addressed with a dispute
Credit Inquiries or Hard Credit Pulls:
- A company must have your authorization to request a Credit Inquiry or to ‘Pull Your Credit’ (Hard Credit Pull), if you see inquiries that you did not authorize, then it is time to dispute these inquiries
Duplicate Accounts:
- Check for any credit balance that is reported more than once, such as a credit card, auto loan, mortgage, as duplicate account reporting reflects more debt than you actually owe and will negatively affect your Debt-to-Income-Ratio
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