Here’s an e-mail I just fired off to my local Senator:
My husband and I are in the process of refinancing our home, in order to take advantage of the lower lending rates. When the mortgage company pulled our credit reports, there were many erroneous entries under my name from one of the credit reporting agencies, Experian. The entries belong to my mother-in-law, Elizabeth C. I am Beth C, so the mistakes are understandable, I guess, even though we each have distinct Social Security numbers, of course.
Now I am trying to get the erroneous entries off of my credit report. Apparently, since we paid a third-party company to pull our credit histories from all three agencies at once, I now have to shell out $14.95 to Experian for a report from them. How can this be? Normally, I would write to Experian to complain, but they do not provide any means of doing so, it seems.
I know there are much bigger problems with this country right now, but this is completely frustrating. First, there are three credit reporting agencies, each with different information. Why? And when the information that they provide is so important, why is it so often incorrect? And why do I have to pay for this information? It’s mine, isn’t it?
So, as it stands right now, if I want these incorrect items removed from my report, I have to pay Experian for a brand-new report. Then, I have to “request an investigation” of each and every erroneous entry. Otherwise, I will continue to receive a lower credit rating (which adversely affects my buying power, and, in turn, the country’s economy). I am at the mercy of Experian, and that makes me very uncomfortable. This is America. I should be able to handle this myself, without paying money out of my pocket.
If there is any way that the United Stages Senate can help remedy this antiquated method of providing credit information, I would really appreciate it.
Respectfully yours,
Beth C
That should get ’em moving, eh?