Handling Credit Disputes and Identity Theft
In today’s highly technical world, it is possible to be a victim of a crime and not to be aware of it. It is recommended that everyone review their credit every six months. When you have your credit report in hand you will review the following items:
- Verify that all of the listed accounts belong to you.
- Verify the credit line on each of your accounts. An incorrectly reported credit line may adversely affect your credit score.
- If there are recent late payments being reported on your account, dispute them using the links listed at the end of this letter.
- Most importantly, if there are any accounts that do not belong to you, verify with the creditor that the information they have does belong to you. If this happens, report the account to the creditor, to your local police department, dispute the account with each of the credit bureaus. Be prepared to provide copies of your personal information such as, driver’s license, social security card, proof of residency. The credit bureaus have accepted as proof of residency, utility bills, telephone bills, tax bills, etc.
Transunion
http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/creditDisputes.page
Experian
http://www.experian.com/disputes2/
Equifax
http://www.equifax.com/answers/correct-credit-report-errors/en_cp
Need more information? Call Joe Elizondo of Northeast Financial at 323-256-7833 or email Joe at neast-financial @ sbcglobal.net.