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How Do I Correct a Mistake on My Credit Report?

Do you regularly review your credit report, and you come across a mistake? In this article we’ll look at how to correct it.

correct mistakes

Contact the Lender

The first thing you should do is try to contact the lender and resolve the situation. The reason for this is simple. The lender is the one who reports to the credit bureaus. If it has reported something inaccurate, you’ll want to start by taking it up with them.

Having as much supporting documentation as possible when speaking with the lender is a good idea. For example, if you made a payment on time and it’s reflected as late on your credit report, you’ll want to know the exact date that you made the payment and have screen captures of your bank account ready to send to the lender.

Usually, lenders are pretty understanding if they are in the wrong. If that’s the case, you should be able to get it resolved with no problem.

The correction may take time to reflect accurately on your credit report. If it doesn’t reflect after a few months, you’ll want to follow up again.

It’s also a good idea to get something in writing. That way, if another lender inquires about it, you have a letter backing up that it was a mistake and not your fault.

Contact the Credit Bureaus

If contacting the lender doesn’t work, you’ll want to contact the credit bureaus directly. This is a more time-consuming process, so it’s best to exhaust all avenues with the lender before reaching out to the credit bureaus. It’s an important step nonetheless.

If there is a mistake on your credit report, depending on how big it is, it could prevent you from getting financing in the future. It could also lead to you paying higher interest rates, so it’s not something to be ignored. You’ll want to do the necessary steps to get it corrected.

There are two major credit bureaus in Canada: Equifax and TransUnion. You’ll want to review your credit report for each and see if the mistake appears on both credit reports. Sometimes it might only appear on one. This could be for a couple of reasons. The mistake may only be with one credit bureau, or the lender might only report to one credit bureau.

Next, you’ll want to contact the credit bureaus. The easiest way to initially do that is by phone. The credit bureaus will want supporting documentation, so be sure to provide that in a timely manner. The credit bureaus will open a case and look into it for you. Each credit bureau has its own dispute resolution process, so be sure to follow it and provide everything on time.

Hopefully, everything is resolved on time. Be sure to continually follow up as needed. However, in the meantime, you can add a statement to your credit report explaining the error.

The Bottom Line

Do you need help correcting a mistake on your credit report? Reach out to our mortgage experts today. We’d be happy to help you get the blemish removed.

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