How Soon Is Credit Report Information Updated?
Today we received a question from one of our viewers who asked, “how soon is credit report information updated“? We thought this was a great question to post a response about and share some insights to help people know what they should look out for. Credit reports are very valuable to individuals as it helps set the criteria for obtaining credit and what rates a person will get.
A good credit score not only means that credit would be available, but the rates that are charged for the credit will be low as well since the borrower has a good history of paying back debt and is considered a non-risk. A bad credit score means can make it harder to get credit, and even when it is approved, it’s done so a higher rate because the borrower is considered a risk for the lender.
This means that it is important to know what is on your credit report and repair credit issues that may hurt your credit. A person is able to obtain 1 free credit report annually from each of the 3 main reporting services. The federal government set up a website that makes it easy for people to log in and get their free credit report each year. This is a free service so don’t be fooled by websites offering a free credit report but want to sign you up for a credit protection program that also comes with a free report. The gov site is AnnualCreditReport.com and a person is allowed to get 1 free annually.
Once a person does have their credit report, they can look it over to see if there are any discrepancies to help improve credit score. Often there may be one or two things that need to be corrected. The credit reporting agencies all have forms that can be filled out to dispute items. If an item is disputed, a person should wait at least 30 days before checking with the credit reporting agency to see if it has been corrected. If it has been updated within 30 days, then a second form should be filled out and sent it.
Credit reporting agencies are required to respond to a inquiry within 30 days and will usually come back with 1 of 3 responses.
1. The credit entry has been changed.
2. The creditor verified the dispute item as good and it stays on the record.
3. They received the request but needs more time to investigate.
In addition, if they do respond and made some changes, you are able to request for a follow-up credit report for free within 6 months of the change to double check that the disputed item has been removed or updated. However, they won’t send it out without a request so if you want to check to see if and when credit information is updated, then request for a new copy of the credit report after a disputed item has been changed.
The law does require the credit bureau to send a free credit report update to anyone who has received a copy of the report within six months prior to any corrections or statements that are added to their credit report. However, if you don’t see any changes within 30 days, than more follow-up is need.
There are monitoring services that can help watch for things that come up on credit reports and often this is the best way to stay on top of the credit report 24/7, but they can be expensive and have monthly costs with them. This means that if you want watch out for things on credit reports and don’t want to pay for it, then it’s best to get the 1 free report each year and then dispute an item so that you can have a follow up one within a 6 month period. If you do this annually this would give you 2 free each year and would be a good way to keep up on what is on the credit report.
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Thanks for A Good Post! I have heard FreeCredit-Report.net is a excellent site to acquire my credit report and get the score 4 free. Has anybody else tried it?
I’ll give you a pat on the back just for the absolute energy in this post.
Great response to an interesting question!
I have found recently when disputing negative items or debts on your credit report, it is easiest AND FASTEST to simply call the credit reporting agency to make the dispute. The toll free number for each agency is available on the reports you download from AnnualCreditReport.com. In my experience the customer service people are friendly and helpful. You can go right through your current credit report and dispute any items you wish, providing the reason for each dispute as you go. This starts the 30 day clock right away instead of the hassle and extra time of mailing dispute letters.
Quick Tip: If you call to dispute items on your credit report, have copies of your current credit report because you will be asked for the report number.
Hope this helps!