by Laura Boeckman
Three separate companies maintain three separate credit reports on you: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Get a free report from each of the three credit reporting agencies once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com. Other Web sites that advertise free credit reports are not actually free.
Significant errors on your credit report can take a year or more to correct so be sure to monitor your credit and correct errors before you are ready to seek credit.
Seeing addresses at which you never lived on your credit report could be a sign that you are a victim of identity theft.
If you have to dispute information on your credit report, do it in writing and send the dispute certified mail. Disputing online is usually an ineffective way to correct errors.
Laura Boeckman is an assistant professor of professional skills at Florida Coastal School of Law and can be reached at (904) 680-7654 or [email protected].