Through a “middle man”, I just purchased all three of my credit reports and credit scores. I’m afraid I have more questions than answers so far.
How accurate do these darn things need to be? For example, one of the agencies had my name misspelled in the “aka” section. (ie. Smith vs. Smite)
Do I need to order my husbands reports as well?
What’s the difference between an account that’s “closed” and an account that’s been “closed by consumer”? Does it matter?
Gah.
name: eh, no big deal
can’t get your husband’s but he can
no diff.
Your credit reports need to be as accurate as possible. I would certainly correct the name information, even though that alone is not likely to affect a credit decision.
Yes, that would be a good idea. Especially if you plan to apply, or have ever applied, for credit jointly. Both reports affect a joint credit application.
Not really. There are three labels for closed accounts:
“closed”
“closed by consumer” (you initiated the closure)
“closed by credit grantor” (the credit grantor initiated the closure)
In and of themselves the label mean very little. Even “closed by credit grantor” could be for the simple reason that you didn’t use the account for an extended period. As a lendor I would only be concerned about “closed by credit grantor” is if the account showed a history of past due payments. Of course, I would be concerned about a history of late payments if the account were still open, too.
I wouldn’t worry about your name being misspelled. It just means that one of the reporters to the bureau (generally credit grantors) has your name slightly wrong. The good news is that it didn’t prevent the bureau from matching it to your file. The bureau will usually not even try to correct these. They just present the name as they are given it, and it doesn’t affect your credit score or worthiness at all.
Brad
Thanks, all. So far, all of the actual credit card account information that I’ve reviewed appears to be accurate (whew!) so I’ll keep plugging through it.
Thanks again.