Checking your credit report for mistakes is important because your credit report and score can affect things like whether you get:

• A loan (and how much you will have to pay to borrow money),
• A job, or
• An apartment.

Any negative information that isn't correct could be unfairly harming you. One common mistake is the inclusion of debts that aren't yours on your credit report. This might be a debt of someone with the same name as yours, or a medical debt that your insurance company should've paid but didn't. Fortunately, there are two recent changes to credit reporting that should help to prevent some of these mistakes.

As of July 1, 2017, the "Big 3" credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion - do not report tax lien and civil judgment information, unless it has your Social Security Number or birth date. Most judgments don't have this information. So these things may or may not appear on your credit report after that date, even if they previously did.

As of September 1, 2017, medical debt is not reported until 6 months has passed from the payment due date. This change gives you time to work with your insurance company to resolve any disputes before they can affect your credit record. If the insurance company pays the debt later, it won't appear on your credit report either. These changes should help decrease errors that affect your credit report.

Checking your credit report for mistakes also helps you check for identity theft. Identity thieves may use your personal information to open new accounts in your name and not pay the bills and commit other crimes. This fraud could affect your ability to get credit, insurance, or a job, and have other potential consequences. For more information, see Identity theft.

If you are denied a loan, a job, or housing, you should then check your report for inaccuracies to make sure the denial wasn't based on incorrect information.

Fixing the mistake

If you think that your credit report has a mistake on it, you should act quickly. Ask the credit reporting agency that produced the report to fix the mistake. The credit reporting agencies and those that provide information to the agencies are responsible for correcting inaccurate information on your credit report.

You can dispute any item on your credit report with the credit bureaus. However, they will only modify the account if it is inaccurate. If an item is incorrect it is up to you to gather all the evidence you have and submit a written dispute to the credit bureaus. Mail in the dispute. Do not do it over the phone. The bureaus must investigate your dispute and respond within 30 days. If the credit errors remains on your report then you have a claim under FCRA.

Here are some examples of mistakes you might find on your credit report and should be sure to have corrected:

• Debt that you have already paid in full but the credit reporting agency still lists on your credit report as being owed,
• An outstanding balance that is more than you owe,
• Information that is past the applicable reporting period (for example, many delinquencies must drop off the report after seven years),
• Debt on your credit report that doesn't belong to you, but instead belongs to someone else who has the same name as you or a similar name, or
• Debt that is on your credit report because somebody forged your name to cash a check, to get a loan, or to buy something.

This isn't a complete list of every type of error you might find. If anything on your report doesn't look right, look into it.

If the error isn't fixed to your satisfaction, you have the right to include a statement in your credit report with the information you're disputing. In that statement, you can provide an explanation or other additional information about why you think the information isn't accurate.