The 10 Most Common Credit Report Errors — and How to Spot Each One

The Federal Trade Commission's landmark study on credit report accuracy found that roughly one in five consumers had an error on at least one of their three reports — and about one in twenty had an error serious enough to change the interest rate they'd be offered. Your file at Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion is assembled from millions of data points reported by lenders, collectors, and public records vendors. Mistakes are not the exception. They're a statistical certainty.

The good news: under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, anything on your reports must be accurate, complete, and verifiable. If it fails any part of that test, you have the right to challenge it. Here are the ten errors that show up most often — and exactly what to look for.

1. Late payments reported on the wrong date

A payment marked 30 days late in the wrong month can extend how long the mark hurts you — or keep an account looking delinquent when it wasn't. Compare the reported delinquency date against your own bank statements. If the dates don't match, the item is inaccurate as reported.

2. Collections you don't recognize

Debts get sold and resold, and sloppy record-keeping travels with them. A collection with an unfamiliar creditor name, a balance you can't trace, or no original account reference deserves scrutiny. You have the right to ask who the original creditor is and how the balance was calculated.

3. Charge-offs with the wrong balance

A charged-off account should report a consistent, accurate balance. Watch for balances that grow after charge-off without explanation, or a charge-off and a collection reporting the same debt with two balances — that's double-counting your liability.

4. Duplicate accounts

One debt appearing twice — often once under the original creditor and again under a collector, both showing as open balances — can make your total debt look far larger than it is. Line up account numbers, open dates, and balances across all three bureaus to catch these.

5. Hard inquiries you never authorized

Every hard inquiry should trace to an application you actually made. Inquiries require a permissible purpose under the FCRA. If you see a pull from a company you never dealt with, that's a legitimate question to raise.

6. Accounts past the reporting window

Most negative items must come off after seven years from the date of first delinquency (ten for Chapter 7 bankruptcy). Collectors sometimes "re-age" debts by reporting a newer delinquency date to reset the clock. Check the date of first delinquency on every old negative item — re-aging is one of the most consequential errors on any report.

7. Closed accounts reporting as open — or with a balance

An account you paid off and closed should say exactly that. A closed account still showing a balance inflates your utilization and can quietly drag your score.

8. Wrong account status

"Settled" reported as "charge-off." "Paid as agreed" reported as "delinquent." A status field is just data someone typed — and it must be accurate. Compare each account's status against your own records.

9. Mixed files

If you share a name with a relative or have a common name, another person's accounts can land in your file. Any account, address, or employer you've never had is a red flag that your file has been mixed with someone else's.

10. Identity-theft accounts

Accounts opened fraudulently in your name are the most serious entries of all — and the FCRA gives identity-theft victims specific tools, including the §605B block, to address them.

How to run your own audit

Pull all three reports — the bureaus don't share data, so an error on one may not appear on the others. Then go line by line: personal information first (names, addresses, employers), then every account's open date, status, balance, and payment history, then inquiries, then public records. Flag anything you can't verify against your own records.

One important distinction: disputing an item isn't about whether it's negative — it's about whether it's accurate, complete, and verifiable. Accurate negative information generally stays. But the FTC's numbers say the odds are real that something on your file doesn't pass the test. You won't know until you look.

When you find something, be specific. A dispute that names the exact account, the exact field that's wrong, and the reason it's wrong must be investigated — usually within 30 days. That's not a courtesy. It's federal law.

Fix My Reports is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. We help consumers exercise rights granted under the FCRA. You review and send every dispute yourself.