As many as 42 million consumers have errors on their
credit reports, and around 20 million have significant
mistakes, a Federal Trade Commission study of nearly
3,000 credit reports indicates in a report released today,
Not all of these errors will impact your ability to get
credit, however. About 13% of study participants saw
their FICO credit score change once a mistake on their
credit report was fixed, and those changes were big
enough to potentially result in better credit offers
for 2.2% of participants. The Consumer Data Industry
Association defended this 2.2% rate, saying in a
statement that overall, the report "shows that 98% of
credit reports are materially accurate."
But since the
three biggest credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and
TransUnion -- maintain credit reports for about 200
million consumers, the 2.2% error rate still means
millions of Americans are being denied loans or given
higher-priced credit due to errors on their reports,
said John Ulzheimerpresident of consumer education at SmartCredit.com and a former manager at FICO.
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