My FICO logo $$$$$$$$$$$ 9876 5432 1234 5678 CREDIT CARD KELLY SMITH 11/26 My FICO logo
SCORE
Skip Navigation
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Start Plan
 
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  •  
  • Education
    • Credit Education
    • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Scores Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
    • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
    • Blog
    • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
    • Know Your Rights
    • Identity Theft
    • FAQ
    • Glossary
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • How Can We Help
    • Monitor Credit & Identity
    • Mortgages
    • Credit Cards
    • Auto Loans
  • Credit Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • Credit Education
  • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Score Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
  • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
  • Blog
  • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
  • Know Your Rights
  • Identity Theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary
View all FICO Scores & Credit Reports articles

The FTC's "Ways to Build a Better Credit Report"

July 01, 2018, by Rob Kaufman

A quick background: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the government agency that enforces the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA is legislation enacted to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of consumer information in the files of consumer reporting agencies.

What does that mean to you? On a personal level, it can help give you a sense of security knowing that there are people working to protect the privacy and accuracy of your credit data. It also means that if there's one group of people who know the different ways of building a better credit report, it's the FTC. So here we go...

CORRECT CREDIT REPORT ERRORS

It's important to check your credit report,(from one or all three of the credit reporting agencies, once a year at the very least. One of the primary reasons for this "credit check" is to examine the report for errors.

Changes are made to millions of credit reports every single day. If yours is one of them and a data error occurs, how will you know about it? Most likely you won't -  until you check your report or something like an unexpected denial of credit occurs. By that time, the damage has been done.

Steps to correcting credit reporting errors include:

  1. Submit a Dispute Form to inform the credit reporting agency whose report contains the error. Credit reporting companies must investigate the items in question.

  2. Inform the information provider (creditor), in writing, that you're disputing the item. The provider must let the credit reporting company know about your dispute. And if the information you are disputing is in fact found to be inaccurate or incomplete, the information provider must tell the credit reporting company to update or delete the item.

PLACE A CREDIT FREEZE OR FRAUD ALERT ON YOUR CREDIT REPORTS

If you're a victim of identity theft or are concerned your data might be in jeopardy due to a data breach, placing a credit freeze on your account stops anyone from opening an account in your name. A credit freeze can be very restrictive in the sense that in addition to identity thieves not having access to your credit report, potential lenders won't have access either. That's why a fraud alert might suit your needs better...

A fraud alert allows creditors to get a copy of your credit report only after verifying your identity. Although fraud alerts may be effective at stopping someone from opening new credit accounts in your name, they may not prevent the misuse of your existing accounts. That's why you must always continue to monitor all bank, credit card and insurance statements for fraudulent transactions.

DEALING WITH DEBT

Many of us have seen hard times (job loss, medical bills, etc.) and have subsequently experienced debt. Although it can seem overwhelming at the time, there are options. For example, debt consolidation, credit counseling from a reputable organization and even bankruptcy.

If you do find yourself in debt, don't hesitate to contact your creditors and see if you can develop a payment plan that reduces payments. This enables you to keep your payments up to date and avoid having your creditors put you in for collection. The secret is to avoid making a bad situation worse.

Always stay away from credit repair "scams". Remember, a company can't remove accurate negative information from one's credit report. However, a good counseling service can help you legitimately improve your credit but it takes time, effort and proper money management.

Check out the myFICO forum and see how others have improved their credit, credit score and also gotten themselves out of debt.

Rob Kaufman

Rob is a writer... of blogs, books and business. His financial investment experience combined with a long background in marketing credit protection services provides a source of information that helps fill the gaps on one's journey toward financial well-being. His goal is simple: The more people he can help, the better.

Estimate your FICO Score range

Answer 10 easy questions to get a free estimate of your FICO Score range

740 - 790
Estimate for Free

Instant Access to Your FICO® Score

90% of Top Lenders Use FICO® Scores. Do you know yours?

Get Access Now!

Page footer

Products

  • Home
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing

Learn

  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Blog

Company

  • About Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Program
  • Accessibility

Get Our App

  • Download iOS app on the App Store
  • fil_get
    Get Android app on the Google Play Store

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Credit Education

  • Credit scores
  • What is a FICO Score?
  • FICO Score versions
  • How scores are calculated
  • Payment history
  • Amount of debt
  • Length of credit history
  • Credit mix
  • New credit
  • Credit reports
  • What's in your report
  • Bureaus
  • Inquiries
  • Errors on your report?
  • Calculators
  • Know your rights
  • Identity theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary

Copyright ©2001- Fair Isaac Corporation. All rights reserved.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, and may include additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Scores and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.

PRIVACY NOTICE: When you visit this website we collect your browsing activities on our site and use that information to analyze and research improvements to the website, and to our products and services. When you register for our products and services, we also collect certain personal information from you for identification purposes, such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, social security number, IP address, and date of birth. Further information is available in our FICO Data Privacy Policy. For visitors with visual disabilities, access to this website, including our FICO Data Privacy Policy, is available through assistive technologies, such as BrowseAloud, JAWS, VoiceOver, Narrator, ChromeVox, and Window-Eyes. More details on software and accessibility are available at WebAIM.org.