Data Management Credit Errors

A credit report in the United States is critical to our economic functioning. You work hard to pay your bills in a timely manner and keep your credit score at an ‘acceptable’ number, or maybe you are working hard to increase your credit score. Regardless, errors on your credit report are a big deal. At Sharmin and Sharmin, we understand how these errors can affect your livelihood and well-being. When you work with our  Florida credit report error lawyers we will help you work towards correcting errors and taking steps to prevent issues in the future. 

What is involved in Data Management for my Credit Report?

Creating and managing your credit report is a group effort between your financial institutions, creditors, and the three major credit reporting bureaus. While this system aims to give a robust view of your financial habits and ability to repay debts, it also increases opportunities for errors as people exchange your data. 

A key component of effective data management is data protection. This is protecting both the security of the data and its integrity. An institution, reporting bureau, or other creditor may have or provide data with poor integrity when the data is outdated or otherwise incorrect. 

Any security breach can challenge the integrity of the information a financial entity is working. For example, if an identity thief gains access to critical information and opens fraudulent accounts because of a data breach, or a malicious party gains access to an account with the goal of account takeover fraud and changes important account information. 

Identifying Data Management Credit Errors 

Ultimately, any kind of error on your credit report may be the result of a data management issue. Whether correct data was incorrectly entered, or fraudulent and otherwise poor quality data was accepted into your report, this is an issue of how data is shared, stored, or protected. However, some common credit report errors to look out for that may indicate this type of problem include:

• Accounts with an incorrect balance 
• Incorrect credit limit 
• Debts listed multiple times
• Incorrect information is reinserted after the correct information is provided

Correcting Data Management Credit Errors

It is essential to take action immediately when you notice an error on your credit report. The first steps to take when you notice an error on your credit report is to contact the reporting agency and the institution to notify them of the error and begin the process to have it corrected. Sometimes, it can be as easy as providing updated documentation, or it may be the first step toward realizing you are the victim of identity fraud. 

You may need to take additional steps to ensure you are protected and minimize your liability if your accounts are fraudulently charged. This may include filing a police report or contacting the FTC to file an identity theft report. If you find you have lingering problems with your credit report, you may determine that you need an attorney to ensure mistakes are removed or corrected and to help you recover damages if creditors or reporting bureaus fail to take appropriate action.