Alex Carlucci The Mortgage Expert,
Publish On: March 9, 2023
In this guide, we will cover errors in your credit report. Errors in your credit report can have an impact on your credit scores which will affect your mortgage process. Errors in your credit report happen to the best of us. Angie Torres, a veteran mortgage operations professional advised the following:
Consumers can get errors in their credit reports corrected if they have documentation showing the bureaus are not reporting the correct information. However, it normally takes 45 days or longer to correct errors on all three credit reporting agencies. It is recommended consumers review their credit reports for accuracy at least once or twice a year. This holds especially true if you plan on applying for a mortgage.
The mortgage process should not start without all the errors in your credit report fixed. Loan officers can do a rapid rescore. If you have the proper documentation showing the credit bureaus made an error in reporting the wrong information, the loan officer can do a rapid rescore. You can get your errors corrected with a rapid rescore in less than one week. Most loan officers can get your credit report updated in three to five business days with rapid rescore.
How To Reach a Human at Credit Bureaus
Connecting with a human customer service representative at the credit bureaus can take hours if not days. We have a shortcut way for reaching a human at the credit bureaus. Click on this link on how to reach a human representative at the three credit bureaus so you do not have to be on hold for hours.
Please click the link on how to reach a human at credit bureau and you will get hold of a representative within a matter of minutes. Experian is the worst wait time if you call the regular number. The short cut way works like a charm.
Once you get a hold of a customer service representative, most reps are very knowledgeable and polite. You should have no issues in correcting the errors in your credit report once you have a representative on the phone. It is getting a hold of a human representative on the phone that is the biggest issue. That is why it is best recommended you reach the shortcut way how to reach a representative on each of the three credit bureaus.
Rebuilding Credit After Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a great way for consumers with outstanding collections, charge-offs, and other debts to get these debts discharged and start a new financial life.
Most of our clients have gotten their credit scores to over 700 FICO in less than one year after their Chapter 7 Bankruptcy discharge. There is no need to hire expensive credit repair companies for credit repair after bankruptcy. The team at Gustan Cho Associates has written countless of blogs on step-by-step instructions on how to rebuild credit after bankruptcy.
For consumers who filed for bankruptcy, all debts that are part of the bankruptcy should be reflected on credit reports. If there were 10 creditors as part of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy, all of the ten creditors should be noted that the creditors were part of bankruptcy on credit reports.
Why You Need To Regularly Check Your Credit Report
There are many cases that credit reporting agencies do not report the discharged debts as part of the bankruptcy and the errors in your credit report will affect the mortgage process.
The team at Gustan Cho Associates has helped thousands of consumers rebuild their credit after Chapter 7 Bankruptcy’s discharge. Dale Elenteny of Gustan Cho Associates is an expert credit rebuilder and licensed mortgage loan officer. Here is what Dale Elenteny said:
A bankruptcy will drop credit scores by at least 100 points or more. This massive drop in credit scores is just a temporary drop and credit scores will increase as the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy ages. By not including a creditor as part of the bankruptcy discharge, it reflects that consumers are still owing that debt which can affect the mortgage process.
Correcting Errors In Your Credit Report
If the debt that was included as part of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition has been discharged but the credit reporting agencies are not reporting as such, it reflects that the debt is after the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Ronda Butts of Gustan Cho Associates said the following:
Many lenders automatically disqualify borrowers with late payments after bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, and short sale. If the debt does not have the verbiage that it is part of bankruptcy, lenders will see that the borrower is currently late on that particular debt which means late payments after bankruptcy.
It is hard enough in trying to repair credit and improve credit scores and this erroneous reporting makes it much more difficult.
Debts Prior To Filing Bankruptcy That Report on Credit Report
If you had debts prior to filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, they all should be zero balance and reporting to the credit bureaus as such.
In the event, that you did not include the debt in the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing, contact your bankruptcy attorney and have them make an amendment to your bankruptcy. Debts that were not included in bankruptcy can get discharged by reopening the bankruptcy. After reopening the bankruptcy, the bankruptcy attorney need to include the debts that were not included in your Bankruptcy filing.
Any debts prior to your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing can be included in the bankruptcy by filing a separate amendment. Never dispute derogatory and/or errors in credit reports without consulting with loan officers. Credit Disputes are not allowed during the mortgage process. Medical collection accounts, collection accounts with zero balance, and outstanding debts that are two years old or older are exempt from retraction of credit disputes.
Credit Reporting Agencies
The three credit reporting agencies are the following:
Credit Bureaus record discharged debts that were part of the consumer bankruptcy’s discharge and report it as current bad debt, thus hurting the consumer from getting mortgage loans and other forms of credit. Having these discharged bankruptcy debts being recorded as active debts can disqualify borrowers from a mortgage loan.
FTC Reveals 25% Of Consumers Have Errors In Your Credit Report
Recent studies conducted by the Federal Trade Commission revealed that 25% of consumers have errors in credit reports. At least 10% of the consumers with errors on their credit report were errors that were serious enough to cause a dramatic impact on the consumer’s ability to secure credit or loans.
Everyone should check their credit report on a regular basis to monitor their credit and to check for any errors. Everyone is entitled by law to an annual free credit report by each of the three credit reporting agencies; Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. For more information on this topic or other mortgage topics, please contact us at Gustan Cho Associates at 800-900-8569 or text us for a faster response. Or email us at gcho@gustancho.com.
