Does anyone of you guys know how I can fix my credit? Every time I apply for a new credit card I get a response that there are too many addresses listed under my name, and also my name is frequently misspelled. Anybody had a similar problem and had fixed it?
BTW I have moved a number of times during the past 5 years.
What service do you guys recommend to check your credit ?
Thank you in advance!
I get the reports directly from each credit bureau, Experian, Equifax & Transunion. If you’ve been denied credit recently, you can get it for free, otherwise its like $9.00 each.
Once you have the report, you can initiate an online dispute with each agency and ask them to remove old addresses, incorrect names, & other misinformation. You can also do this though the mail (I think Experian requires you to mail it to change personal info). I usually just say “This is not my name/address, please remove it”. I’ve never had a problem doing that. At one point they had over 20 addresses for me, over half of which I had never lived at.
IMHO, credit counseling services (you know, the ones that offer to fix your credit for a fee) are a complete rip off and waste of money. Everything you need to know about it can be found online for free and its not hard to do.
Don’t go to a credit counseling service.
All three major credit bureaus allow you to purchase a report online. By federal law they are not allowed to charge more than (I think) $9.00. However, they will be happy to tack on extra services and info (such as your FICO score and various credit analysis tools) for more cash.
Also by federal law, they must investigate any item that you dispute. I have had great success ordering my report from each bureau, (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian), and disputing the incorrect information using their online forms. It took about an hour to do all three. They will send you a letter in a couple weeks confirming that the incorrect information has been removed.