Credit 911: Secrets and Strategies to Saving Your Financial Life

CHAPTER 6

The Credit System and How It Works

It doesn’t matter how good looking you are, what kind of car you drive, or how impressive your possessions. Your credit score doesn’t take any of this into consideration. There’s nothing sexy about credit, and looks are often deceiving. What does matter is what your score reveals—the conclusion that lenders, insurance companies, and employers draw about you is frequently based on inaccurate credit reports.

That’s not the exception; it’s the rule. A full 79 percent of all credit reports contain at least one error.⁵ This error rate is staggering. Imagine what you would think upon finding out that doctors misdiagnosed patients 8 out of 10 times. Or what if an NFL quarterback threw an interception on 8 out of every 10 passes? As Donald Trump would say, “You’re fired!” So why is it acceptable for 79 percent of all American credit reports to have at least one error? You see, the American credit system is broken and full of errors. But we all have to work within the system, or the system will beat us.

Over half (54 percent) have wrong demographics such as misspelled names, outdated addresses, or mistakes in identity; 22 percent listed a mortgage twice or included a mortgage and balance that had been refinanced and eliminated. And 30 percent showed open balances on accounts that had been closed.

Here’s an example of how errors affect you. William was the third person in his family with the same name as his father and grandfather. He was receiving ...