Long-time readers of my blog know that I am extremely scrupulous with my financial records. I’ve been the victim of identity theft and credit card compromise more than once; and I guard my financial records like they were the contents of Fort Knox.
Which is why, once every year, I visit a site called annualcreditreport.com and download the record reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus – TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. I do this because I want to ensure that my credit and my finances are kept close to the chest, and that I’m not dealing with bad actors who would not think twice about draining my finances or swiping every penny from my credit card available limits.
I can save all three reports to a personal secure location (i.e., print them out on paper) and look them over for any inconsistencies or errors. Because, let’s face it, over time, people make mistakes. “Chuck Miller” is quite a common name, believe it or not – “Miller” is actually the sixth most common name in genealogy, just above names like Taylor or Anderson.
Checking your credit report is free, and doing so does not affect your credit scores. And I try to do this at least once a year, although some services would want you to sign up for a subscription service (yes, everybody wants to make money off you). You’re legally permitted one free credit report per year, and they have to provide you with that report upon request.
So I’m looking over one of the reports … and …
Well, it shows me where I’ve lived in the past. Yes, this address is correct … so is this one …
Wait a second.
I’ve never lived at 713 Pawling Avenue in Troy. I don’t even KNOW anyone at 713 Pawling Avenue in Troy.
I check the date one of the credit reporting bureaus has for me living at that spot. Nope.
I need to remedy this. Either someone mixed up my data with someone else’s, or someone used this info to try to pretend they were me, and to do some nefarious crapola that would have wrecked my financial support to the point where I would need a co-signer for a package of Tic Tacs.
A quick phone call. I explain the situation. The record is fixed.
Another record still has “Charles Miller” as my legal name. Oh, no, nobody’s dead-naming me. That ain’t happening. I legally re-branded from “Charles” to “Chuck” years ago. Another phone call. Another fix.
You have to do this. You can’t count on credit reporting bureaus to get it right. Especially when this information could prevent you from acquiring a loan for a big-ticket item, or for a better interest rate on your credit cards, or a renegotiation on your interest rates. Financial institutions look at these credit reports, and they treat them as gospel.
I also looked through the listings for every bank loan that supported my vehicles. Wow. Every payment made. Chronicled for years and years. A “check” for every payment made on time. More checks than in downtown Prague. Each payment registered. Each notice chronicled. If I requested a loan right now, this credit report would be perfect.
It’s not totally perfect, though … there were some times of personal struggle for me. But I was never delinquent in my debts. I may have had other people cause me financial problems, but not while I’ve been on my own. And I’ve had to fight that tooth and nail and hammer and claw to expunge their poison out of my credit line. And I will do this as much as I possibly can.
So, yeah. Take today and download your credit reports. Read them like they were detective novels. Scour them for any inconsistency. Go in there with the mindset that there are TEN errors on your credit report, and you have to find them. And once you find them, call the credit bureaus and get them to either explain how they came up with that information, or have them scour it off your listing.
Because, let’s be honest. Preventative measures today will mitigate any presumptive damages tomorrow.
FTC Notice: At no time did I receive any financial remuneration or compensation for this blog post. This information was provided by my own personal opinion and composition. This information was not influenced by TransUnion, Equifax or Experian.
FWIW, when I requested mine last year, all three offered the option of hard copy by mail. Frankly, and this is really sad, I trust the pitiful USPS more than I do internet security these days. (BTW, TransUnion was hacked last year.)
And Experian’s report included a free FICO credit score.
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