Hilarious Saturday Night Live skit with Steve Martin, hits too close to home though
79% of all credit reports contain errors, now that's a scary thought
Several studies over the past 15 years have documented mistakes in
credit reports. However, this newest study, conducted by the National
Association of State Public Interest Research Groups, is the most
alarming yet.
It discovered that 79 percent of all credit
reports contain some type of error - and 25 percent contain such
serious errors that those individuals could be denied credit.
Here are other significant findings:
54
percent contained inaccurate personal information such as misspelled
names, wrong Social Security numbers, inaccurate birth dates,
inaccurate information about a spouse and out of date address. For
example, one credit report listed a man's business partner as his
spouse.
30 percent listed "closed" accounts as "open."
For example, listing a student loan that was paid off years ago as
still outstanding. Another report listed several credit cards, a
mortgage and an auto loan all as open.
22 percent of reports had the same mortgage or loan listed twice. This mistake often occurs when loans are serviced or sold.
8
percent of reports simply didn't list major credit, loan, mortgage or
other accounts that could be used to demonstrate the creditworthiness
of a consumer.See how much late payments affect your credit score
For a Consumer Who Started With a FICO Score of 780:
- Following
a 30-day late payment, the consumer's car loan rate would jump nearly 3
percent, costing the borrower $26 more each month.
- Following a debt settlement, the consumer would pay as much as $109 more each month on a home mortgage.
For a Consumer Who Started With a FICO Score of 680:
- Following a 30-day late payment, the consumer would pay $41 more each month for a car loan.
- Following a 30-day late payment, the consumer would pay as much as $95 more each month on a home mortgage.
- Following a debt settlement, the consumer would no longer qualify for a credit card.
