San Diego Financial Attorneys Giving You the Representation You Need for Credit Report Errors

Most Americans know the importance of a credit score. Along with a driver’s license and a social security number, your credit report is one of the key items needed to buy homes, rent apartments, lease cars, and more. Unlike our driver’s licenses or social security numbers, though, credit scores can change. Based on a variety of factors, a credit score can be either be “good” or “bad.” Depending on your score, it may either be easy, difficult, or even impossible to find a place to live or obtain a vehicle. This is why so many people put forth their best effort to maintain high credit scores.

Sometimes our credit scores can be impacted by things beyond our control. This includes inaccurate information being reported to the credit agencies. If one or more of these agencies applies inaccurate information to your account, the impact could be severe. This is why it’s important to know what your score is, and what to do in the event false or misleading information turns up on your credit report.

What Information is Used to Determine my Credit Score in California?

Your credit score is determined by the three major credit agencies: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. These agencies monitor a variety of factors in order to determine what your credit score is. These factors include but are not limited to:

• Open Accounts – How Many Credit Accounts You Have Open
• Credit History- How Long You’ve Had Your Oldest Open Account
• Payment History – How Often you Make Payments and How Much you Pay
• Available Credit- How Much Credit You Have
• Credit Usage- How Much of your Available Credit You’re Using
• Total Balances- The Total Amount of Money You Owe Across All Accounts
• Credit Checks- How Many Businesses Have Run Credit Checks on You

It’s important to remember more than just credit cards are taken into account. For example, if you have an auto loan on your car, this is tabulated towards your credit score. So are student loans. In addition to this information, other non-financial data may be submitted to the credit agencies to help determine your score. For example, if you were renting a house or apartment and broke your lease or you left the property damaged and in need of repairs, your landlord can report this to the credit agencies.

How Can Inaccurate Information Impact my Credit Score in California?

Credit agencies take the information they receive at face value. This means they trust it is accurate and will not investigate any further. This means your credit score can quickly and easily be updated on a monthly basis. If you have been trying to improve it and have been making regular payments and/or paying off debts, you can quickly raise it. The disadvantage is that if any of the agencies receive inaccurate or damaging information, this will just as quickly be applied. If there’s an error that makes it seem like you missed a payment, a vengeful landlord reports false information, or the agencies receive otherwise damaging information, this could lower your score.

What Are My Rights if I Find Errors on my Credit Report?

Information related to your credit score is regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Act is meant to protect consumers from inaccurate information. It also lets people know if information in their credit report has been used against them. If you discover errors in your report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the following rights:

• The Right to Delete Inaccurate, Incomplete, or False Information
• The Right to Delete Out-of-Date Information
• The Right to Freeze Access to Your Report Pending Correction or Deletion of Erroneous Information
• The Right to Prevent Your Employer from Reviewing Your Credit Report
• The Right to Seek Damages from Intentional False or Malicious Reporting

If you suspect the error in your report is the result of identity theft, you have additional rights. Identity theft is considered a serious crime and investigated by the Federal Trade Commission. If the error is the result of identity theft, you can have a Fraud Alert placed on your credit report. This will notify anyone reading the report that certain activity may have been the result of identity theft.

If you find inaccurate information in your report, there is a process to correct it. This process can take multiple steps. It involves contacting credit agencies and waiting for an investigation to be launched. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the process may take longer and involve more steps. Meanwhile, your credit score can remain negatively impacted. Even if you succeed in removing an error from your report, the process can be time-consuming and potentially expensive.

What Should I Do If I Find Errors on my Credit Report?

If you or a loved one are being negatively impacted by errors on your credit report, don’t hesitate to contact the attorneys at Khosroabadi & Hill, APC. We’re located at 3550 Camino Del Rio N #303, San Diego, CA 92108, three miles East of SDSU Mission Valley River Park and one mile North of the San Diego Community College District building. We strive to provide all of our clients with the highest levels of care and attention for all their legal needs. We’ll work with you or your loved ones every step of the way in dealing with the credit agencies. We can handle all of the difficult steps involved in getting inaccurate negative information taken off your report, and saving you the time and effort of dealing with them yourself.

Khosroabadi & Hill understands how important it is to have a good credit score, and how easy it can be for one false piece of information to negatively impact it. Don’t let an error or retaliatory business prevent you from living the life you’ve earned. If you or a loved one are dealing with a credit error, contact Khosroabadi & Hill today at 858-240-2093 or email us for a free consultation. We can get errors removed from your credit score and give you back your peace of mind.