If you see an account in collections on your credit report, you’re not alone. 89 million U.S. consumers also experience this. If you’re in this situation, here’s what you need to know:
It’s possible that you missed a notice or a call from a creditor. Medical bills and utilities are two common examples:
You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous.
First, contact the creditor or collections agency and verify that the account in collections is accurate. If it is, you can’t submit a dispute. If the collections agency confirms it was reported in error, you can dispute it through the TransUnion Service Center.
If you suspect a collection is fraudulent, you should report the fraud at identitytheft.gov and then file a dispute.
If the agency verifies that disputed information is accurate, it may continue to report that information.
There are various types of credit scores, and lenders use a variety of different types of credit scores to make lending decisions. The credit score you receive is based on the VantageScore 3.0 model and may not be the credit score model used by your lender.
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