Why do we have to correct credit reports?

If your lobbyist can do a better job than the banking lobbyists, they will. Otherwise, the banks make the laws.

Credit reports are a recording of one's past financial behavior and a strong indicator of one's future financial behavior. It is also a tool used by employers to judge the character of a person.

The information comes from your creditors, your employers and public records. The 'supplier and conveyer' of this information is only providing the information that you provide in any application you submit voluntarily.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs the actions of the credit bureaus and creditors. Violations of these laws by these entities are met with heavy fines and legal action.

Due to the voluminous amounts of information submitted to the credit bureaus, the law allows for errors and calls for every individual to be active in monitoring their own credit report as the credit bureaus are only a 'warehouse' of information and are not called to verify the information that it receives unless requested to do so.

If information is incorrect then the credit bureaus must delete or correct such information. If they do not, there are remedies consumers can enforce.

Whether this is fair or not is up for discusion, however it is the accepted standard.

Credit is a privilege and not a right. Credit is also a business that is entered into by any individual voluntarily.

You are definitely making a valid point, but I wish you weren't SHOUTING. :) The reason it falls to you to keep your own credit report accurate is that you are the only person who actually gives a damn if it is right or not. Creditors do not care if they screw you out of a decent mortgage because they put something on your credit that belonged to some guy w/ the same name who lives in Duluth. The mortgage broker doesn't care if you get a crappy interest rate or no loan at all. He is not an actual decision maker. He is going to wear the same bad polyester tie tomorrow whether he gets you a great rate or a crappy one. Finally, if someone places something incorrect on your credit & eventually sues you, you will be the poor soul who has to show up in court & pay an atty to try to convince the judge that it is the guy in Duluth's debt, not yours. Until you do, however, the creditor will call your work, embarass you in front of your secretary by telling her your business...which isn't even yours, harass your wife by telling her she should divorce you b/c you're a deadbeat, etc.

I guess you get what I'm saying. No one cares what is on your report except you.

Btw, I check mine 3x/yr, religiously, for fraud, but I don't even care about the score b/c I quit borrowing (at all) 5 yrs ago. I hope you will consider doing the same. It is extremely liberating. I look forward to the day when I order my credit report, & they tell me I don't have one...so I must be dead b/c I haven't had any open debts in so long.

Because you're the only one that knows if the info is correct or contains errors.

Once you find the error (bill that was never paid or continuously paid late) (it doesn't happen the first time you have a late payment), then you get in touch with the party that filed the late of non-payment and they in turn issue a letter (or reversal) of the mistake to the credit bureau.

Mistakes happen all the time but it's your credit and you are trying to correct it.