Credit Report Errors: Common Types, How to Spot Them, and What to Do

By Richard H. Kim, The Kim Law Firm, LLC

A credit report error is information on your credit report that is wrong, incomplete, out of date, or not yours: an account you never opened, a payment marked late that you made on time, a balance you paid off still showing, or the same debt listed twice. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute it, requires the credit bureau to investigate, and requires the bureau to correct or delete what it cannot verify.

This article covers the common types of credit report errors, how to spot each one, what to do when you find one, and when an error the bureau will not fix becomes a legal claim.

How common are credit report errors?

Common enough that every report is worth reading line by line. In a study for Congress, the Federal Trade Commission had 1,001 consumers review their reports from all three nationwide bureaus with a trained reviewer. About one in four found at least one error that could affect their credit standing.

The common types of credit report errors, and how to spot each

1. Accounts that are not yours

An account you never opened can reach your report in two ways. In a mixed file, the bureau’s matching software attaches another real person’s account to your file, usually because your names, addresses or Social Security numbers overlap. In identity theft, someone opened the account using your information.

How to spot it: a creditor you have never dealt with, an account opened while you lived somewhere else, or a collection on a debt you never had. Our page on the mixed credit report explains how files get mixed; identity theft covers fraudulent accounts.

2. Wrong personal information

A misspelled name is usually harmless. A name you have never used, an address in a city you never lived in, an employer you never worked for, or a second Social Security number or date of birth is not. Personal information is often the first place a mixed file shows itself.

How to spot it: read the personal information section before the accounts. A wrong address on a credit report matters more than it looks.

3. Payments marked late that were made on time

Payment history weighs heavily with lenders, so a single false late payment can cost you. A related error: a payment made a week or two after the due date, reported as “30 days late.” The account was never 30 days past due, so that entry describes something that did not happen.

How to spot it: compare the payment-history grid month by month against your bank or card statements. See how to dispute a late payment you never made.

4. Wrong balance or credit limit

A balance that is too high, a paid account still showing money owed, or a missing or understated credit limit all make you look more heavily borrowed than you are.

How to spot it: check each balance and limit against your latest statement or payoff letter.

5. Wrong account status

An account closed years ago shown as open; an account you were only an authorized user on shown as yours; an account in good standing shown as delinquent, charged off or in collections; or a debt discharged in bankruptcy still shown as owed.

How to spot it: read the status line on every account, not only the ones you remember.

6. The same debt listed more than once

One account reported twice, or a debt reported with a balance by both the original creditor and the collector that bought it, doubles what you appear to owe.

How to spot it: look for two entries with the same opening date, amount or account number fragment.

7. Wrong dates and outdated items

Most negative information has to come off after seven years, and a bankruptcy after ten. A wrong date of first delinquency can keep an old debt on your report longer than the law allows, or make it look recent.

How to spot it: check the date of first delinquency and the opening date on every negative account.

8. Public records and “deceased” flags

A judgment or bankruptcy that belongs to someone else, or one that was dismissed or satisfied but still shows as active, is an error. So is a “deceased” notation on a living person, which can stop all new credit at once. See a judgment on your credit report and a credit report that says you are deceased.

How to check your credit report for errors

Get your reports from all three nationwide bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Free weekly reports are available at AnnualCreditReport.com, and if a lender, landlord or employer took action against you because of a report, you can get a free copy from the company that supplied it if you ask within 60 days.

Read each report in the same order: personal information first, then each account’s status, balance, date of first delinquency and payment history. Write down every error with the bureau, the creditor and the page number. Keep a dated copy of each report. An error at one bureau and not the others is common, because the bureaus keep separate files; the Equifax, Experian and TransUnion pages cover each bureau’s process.

What to do when you find an error

1. Dispute in writing with each bureau that shows the error. Name the item, say why it is wrong, and enclose copies (not originals) of what proves it: a statement, a payoff letter, a court order. The bureaus also take disputes online and by phone, but a certified letter gives you a dated record of exactly what you sent. Our credit dispute letter guide has the structure.
2. Tell the company that reported it, too. You can dispute directly with the lender or collector. Do it in addition to the bureau dispute, not instead of it.
3. Know the bureau’s deadline. The bureau must send your dispute and documents to the company that reported the item and finish its investigation, in most cases within 30 days. It must delete or correct anything it finds inaccurate or cannot verify, send you the results in writing, and send a free copy of your report if anything changed.
4. If it was fixed, ask the bureau to tell others. You can ask it to send the correction to anyone who received your report in the past six months, or the past two years for employment.
5. If it was not fixed, you can add a brief statement of dispute to your file. Read the next section before you do anything else.

Identity theft has its own faster route: with an identity theft report from IdentityTheft.gov or the police, you can ask each bureau to block the fraudulent information, and the bureau must block it within four business days.

When a credit report error becomes a claim

Most errors are fixed by a well-documented dispute. The ones that are not tend to look like this:

• The bureau says the item was “verified,” and your documents show it is wrong.
• The item was deleted and then came back, with no letter telling you so.
• The lender or collector keeps reporting the same error after the bureau sent it your dispute.

Each of those points to a failed duty under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The bureau must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy and must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation when you dispute. The company that reported the item must investigate once the bureau notifies it of your dispute. That last duty is why the bureau dispute matters: a dispute sent only to the lender does not by itself start the duty you can enforce in court.

When those duties are not met, the Act lets you recover your actual damages, such as a denied loan, a higher rate, a lost apartment or job, and the time and distress of trying to fix it. For a willful violation you can recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, plus punitive damages, and in either case attorney’s fees and costs. A claim must be filed within two years of when you discover the violation and no more than five years after it happened.

If you disputed an error and it was not fixed, I review the file at no cost and tell you whether there is a claim. You pay nothing unless we win. The credit report errors lawyer page explains how a case works, and you can contact us to send your reports and dispute letters.

Admitted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; available to appear pro hac vice in other federal courts.

Credit report errors: common questions

What are common credit report errors?

Accounts that belong to someone else, wrong personal information, payments marked late that were made on time, wrong balances or credit limits, closed accounts shown as open, the same debt listed more than once, wrong dates, and negative items older than the law allows. Public records that are not yours and a “deceased” flag on a living person are less common but cause serious damage.

How do I find errors on my credit report?

Get your reports from all three nationwide bureaus. Free weekly reports are available at AnnualCreditReport.com. Read the personal information section first, then check each account’s status, balance, date of first delinquency and payment history against your own records.

How can I get an error removed from my credit report?

Dispute it in writing with each bureau that reports it. Say which item is wrong and why, and enclose copies of documents that prove it. The bureau must investigate and must delete or correct information it finds inaccurate or cannot verify.

How long does a credit bureau have to fix an error?

In most cases 30 days from receiving your dispute. When it finishes, it must send you the results in writing, and a free copy of your report if the dispute changed it.

Should I dispute online or by mail?

The bureaus accept disputes online, by phone and by mail. A letter sent by certified mail, with copies of your proof, gives you a dated record of exactly what you sent, which matters if the error is not fixed.

Should I dispute with the credit bureau or with the lender?

With the bureau, and with the lender too if you like. The lender’s duty that you can enforce in court starts when the bureau notifies it of your dispute, so a dispute sent only to the lender does not protect that right.

What if the bureau says the information was verified?

Get a fresh report to confirm the item is still there, keep the bureau’s letter, and gather the documents that show the entry is wrong. A “verified” result on an entry your documents contradict is the point where it is worth having a lawyer look at the file.

Can an error come back after it was deleted?

It can. A bureau may put a deleted item back only if the company that reported it certifies that it is complete and accurate, and the bureau must tell you in writing within five business days. Keep both versions of your report if it happens.

Can I sue over a credit report error?

If a bureau or the company that reported the information failed in its duties under the Fair Credit Reporting Act after you disputed, yes. You can recover actual damages, and for a willful violation statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 and punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs.

How long do I have to bring a claim?

Two years from when you discover the violation, and no more than five years from when it happened, whichever comes first. Write down the date you first saw the error.

Sources: 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681c, 1681c-2, 1681e(b), 1681i, 1681j, 1681m, 1681n, 1681o, 1681p and 1681s-2; 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43; Federal Trade Commission, Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports and Free Credit Reports; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What are common credit report errors that I should look for on my credit report? and How do I dispute an error on my credit report?; Federal Trade Commission, Report to Congress Under Section 319 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (December 2012).