An annual credit report is a necessity. Institutions reporting, that show up on your annual credit report, make an effort to provide accurate information, however, inevitably mistakes happen. Either a mistake is made based on your repayment or even more difficult to track down and correct, is information erroneously added to your credit report that belongs to someone else.

Ask for an annual credit report and check it against who you know your lenders are. Check any comments that have been noted about your repayment and call the reporting lender immediately, if you see any discrepancy. If there is a charge or comment that you do not recognize, call the credit agency and ask for the contact information of the lender so you can track it down.

Occasionally your annual credit report will show a name that is different from the lender due to the parent company being a different name than the lending institution. Its better that you ask about something you don