40 Million Mistakes: Is your credit report accurate?

February 10, 2013 4:00 PM

A new study indicates as many as 40 million consumers have a mistake on their credit report and Steve Kroft finds it's hard to get them fixed.

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by utmman66 February 12, 2013 2:22 PM EST: The real key to your report is what was said at the very end about the credit industry "lobbying group" in Washington. We all know what lobbyists do...pay for legislation to their benefit and not the consumers! That is the reason the government and particularly the Attorney General has done nothing to investigate the credit reporting system & industry as a whole and certainly the big 3 agencies.; Reply to this comment


by alltrue68 February 12, 2013 1:51 PM EST: After 4 years, still no end to a long string of mishandled reporting by a mortgage company that was bought out by a prominent Bank. Been yelled at on the phone by a prominent banks representative who would not listen to the reasons why the Fair Credit Reporting Act had been violated in our case. Attorney's office in Arizona who caused the mistake cleared out and are no longer practicing in that state. Filed letters with the 3 credit companies who increased our score but refused to remove the amount we do not owe from our report. Put "charged off" on there and it was not right to put that debt on there 4 years ago! We are senior citizens who have had perfect credit for 50 years and now can't purchase a home with this mistake still showing....have tried everything, have all paperwork documented...still no help short of paying $5,0000 to a lawyer who guarantees nothing but is willing to give it a go! Disheartening.; Reply to this comment


by alltrue68 February 12, 2013 1:49 PM EST: After 4 years, still no end to a long string of mishandled reporting by a mortgage company that was bought out by a prominent Bank. Been yelled at on the phone by a Chase person who would not listen to the reasons why the Fair Credit Reporting Act had been violated in our case. Attorney's office in Arizona who caused the mistake cleared out and are no longer practicing in that state. Filed letters with the 3 credit companies who increased our score but refused to remove the amount we do not owe from our report. Put "charged off" on there and it was not right to put that debt on there 4 years ago! We are senior citizens who have had perfect credit for 50 years and now can't purchase a home with this mistake still showing....have tried everything, have all paperwork documented...still no help short of paying $5,0000 to a lawyer who guarantees nothing but is willing to give it a go! Disheartening.; Reply to this comment


by Night_hawk1 February 12, 2013 11:31 AM EST: I went to Experian's website after reading the story on here, and they are trying to undermine the facts gave. That right there shows that there is truth in what you are saying people need to realize that not everything is exactly as they say it is. Sounds more like the credit companies are just trying to line their pockets instead of doing what they claim they are which is helping the people; Reply to this comment


by eyeamnotalone February 12, 2013 8:11 AM EST: Like many, we have experienced mistakes on our reports. Even a medical bill that was never sent to the correct address we gave, just quickly sent to a collections agency which then showed on the credit report, really dropped our score.It took some doing, & the only thing that worked was to send a letter to the originator of this bill, a doc, who realized it was his billing depts mistake, not ours. Most interesting, even when our credit is very good, those "best rates" for a mortgage or car loan NEVER appear unless you raise a ruckus BEFORE the contract is signed.The rates are NEVER as good as advertised. It is a system to keep cash flowing to the banks by higher interest rates on loans. And one has to wonder--- for a business to submit a bill to collections... who is paying who to do all that? One palm greasing another is our guess.; Reply to this comment


by TheIDChannel February 12, 2013 3:01 AM EST: The credit bureaus do not have skin in the game, and as long as they do not have a motivated interest for accuracy in credit reports, they will not change their policies and procedures. The following is a detailed article how Experian actually contributes to identity theft: https://idcuffs.com/blog/experian-identity-theft-accomplice-the-system-is-rigged-against-you/; Reply to this comment


by legaeagle February 11, 2013 11:50 PM EST: THIS COUNTRY HAS ALLOWED BUSINESSES TO ROB ITS CITIZENS ,,,,
AND NOW WE CAN SEND OUR KIDS TO COLLEGE, ITS A WONDER WHY OTHER COUNTRIES ARE
PASSING US.

THE UNITED STATES IS NO LONGER THE GREAT COUNTRY IT ONCE WAS; Reply to this comment


by legaeagle February 11, 2013 11:49 PM EST: THIS COUNTRY HAS ALLOWED BUSINESSES TO ROB ITS CITIZENS ,,,,
AND NOW WE CAN SEND OUR KIDS TO COLLEGE, ITS A WONDER WHY OTHER COUNTRIES ARE
PASSING US.

THE UNITED STATES IS NO LONGER THE GREAT COUNTRY IT ONCE WAS; Reply to this comment


by Activeman47433 February 11, 2013 9:42 PM EST: THE 3 CREDIT BUREAUS ARE A JOKE. IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY AND NOTHING ABOUT CORRECTING YOUR REPORT. I AM SICK AND TIRED OF PAYING $45 A MONTH AND NOTHING GETS DONE TO CORRECT MY REPORT. I THINK BUSINESSES SHOULD NO LONGER BE INVOLVED IN ANYTHING INVOLVED WITH THIS. AS USUAL...ALL ABOUT MONEY....

Kevin Haltom
Frustrated Veteran; Reply to this comment

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