How do I get errors off my credit reports?

Dear Liz: I have always thought I had good credit. I pay my bills on time and don’t carry credit card balances. But when I moved into my current apartment, the landlord ran a credit check on me. It wasn’t horrible–my credit score was 683–but certainly wasn’t as good as I imagined. A few things on the report struck my attention. First, the report has Fresno as one of my former residences. Not only have I never lived in California, but I have never even stepped foot in the state! Second, it appears that I am in collections for some long distance phone charges when I in fact have never had an account with the company that’s listed. How can I get these errors cleared off my record?

Answer: Collections agencies have become increasingly aggressive about seeking payment on old debts, and some of them aren’t too picky about making sure they’re going after the right people. The result is that someone else’s collection account can land on your credit report, as apparently happened here.

Start by pulling your credit reports from all three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. You’re entitled to free reports from each of the bureaus once a year under federal law by calling (877) 322-8228 or visiting the bureaus’ central Web site, www.annualcreditreport.com. (If you’ve already had your free look for the year, you can order copies individually from the bureaus, typically for a fee of $8 to $9, or you can order your reports and FICO scores from all three bureaus for about $45 from MyFico.com.)

With your reports, you’ll be given instructions on how to dispute errors such as the bogus address and the incorrect collection account. With any luck, the erroneous entries will disappear. If not, you’ll have to take your fight directly to the collection agency. Send it a letter, certified mail, return receipt requested, informing them that this is not your debt and demanding that they “validate” the account–which means that they must provide proof that you owe the money and that they are entitled to collect the debt. If it’s not your debt, they won’t be able to provide such proof and the entry should disappear from your report.

It’s also possible, although less likely, that you’re the victim of identity theft. In that case you might want to check out the resources at the Identity Theft Resources Center at www.idtheftcenter.org. Typically, an identity thief will open more than one bogus account and you would find plenty of other errors, collections and delinquencies in your report.

Don’t rest until you’ve resolved this issue. A 683 score may not seem all that bad, but more than half of American adults have FICO scores over 700 and you typically need a score of 720 or above to get the best rates and terms. The score you have now could cost you thousands of dollars of unnecessary interest should you need a loan, so it’s worth investing the time to get this matter corrected.