Is fixing addresses in a credit report important?

[Revalos]

Recently I posted here about my iTunes account getting hacked and having $1000 taken out of my bank account because I was an idiot and had Paypal automatically allow transactions from there. If you've got yours set up this way, I suggest changing it.

I got my money back on Friday from Paypal, but as part of the investigation into this (just to check for ID theft) I found out that my address in my credit report from Experian is wrong, as are two of my previous addresses. I think I've seen this before but I don't know if it ever got fixed. What is listed as my current address has the right house number but wrong street (and the house that is there is abandoned...which could be bad for credit obviously), one of my "prior" addresses has what is really my current address' right street name but a transposed house number, and then there's a third address which is where my ex wife lived for a few months before she left to go to Portland (I guess she tried to open an account in my name at some point, too bad I had locked everything down back then).

So, do I go through the hassle of fixing all of this or not worry about it? If I should, how do I do it? I went to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre21.shtm and saw the phone number to call, but is that the best way? I went to Experian's website and it doesn't help much either, just keeps asking me if I want to order another copy of my report. Should I check with TransUnion and Equifax too? Is it worth paying for a copy from them to do it or just call and verify?

[Sylvan Dreams]

You should get a three bureau credit report, and then fix any errors on each report via the individual bureaus. You can fix errors on their respective websites, and they will send you e-mails letting you know the status. I'm pretty sure if you view the reports online, it provides you with the links to fix things.

[Revalos]

You should get a three bureau credit report, and then fix any errors on each report via the individual bureaus. You can fix errors on their respective websites, and they will send you e-mails letting you know the status. I'm pretty sure if you view the reports online, it provides you with the links to fix things.

I tried figuring out how to do this on Experian's site. What I have is a free report I got from American Express that gave me all of Experian's Info. There isn't a "report number" to use on it that I can see, so do I order another copy from them and get the number there to dispute it online?

Good idea about getting the other ones for free. I always forget about doing that every year.

[Stretch]

www.annualcreditreport.com

Get your free once-a-year report, then use that report # to file a dispute.

Even if you aren't a victim of identity theft, you can get fucked if they mismatch you to another person's credit info. This just happened to me -- my Equifax report had a bunch of someone's shitty loans reported on my profile. Wasn't fraud or anything, they just transposed address #'s, but that resulted in my score tanking by at least 150 points.

[kookiegod]

Ok, speaking as someone who worked in the credit industry for years, yah, get those fixed.

Lots of extra addresses add to the perception you move a lot and transient, and thus less likely to stay in a position/apartment for long, thus dropping your score on derived credit analysis risk scores that exist specifically for pre-employment and rental housing screening.

It adds to the cost to the employer as they do criminal records searches in those disticts, not your problem, but adds to the time required to do a background check and thus someone else might beat you to the job.

And it lowers your FICO score.

So yah, fix em.

~Paul

[Stanley Burrell]

Recently I posted here about my iTunes account getting hacked and having $1000 taken out of my bank account because I was an idiot and had Paypal automatically allow transactions from there. If you've got yours set up this way, I suggest changing it.

I got my money back on Friday from Paypal, but as part of the investigation into this (just to check for ID theft) I found out that my address in my credit report from Experian is wrong, as are two of my previous addresses. I think I've seen this before but I don't know if it ever got fixed. What is listed as my current address has the right house number but wrong street (and the house that is there is abandoned...which could be bad for credit obviously), one of my "prior" addresses has what is really my current address' right street name but a transposed house number, and then there's a third address which is where my ex wife lived for a few months before she left to go to Portland (I guess she tried to open an account in my name at some point, too bad I had locked everything down back then).

So, do I go through the hassle of fixing all of this or not worry about it? If I should, how do I do it? I went to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre21.shtm and saw the phone number to call, but is that the best way? I went to Experian's website and it doesn't help much either, just keeps asking me if I want to order another copy of my report. Should I check with TransUnion and Equifax too? Is it worth paying for a copy from them to do it or just call and verify?

Do you get independent snail mail from any third parties you mentioned/haven't mentioned where you edit: have/had CC information stored?

A) New CC. Make 110% certain purchases from a prior card cannot be charged to your new card. Speak to a manager with the aforementioned as a priority.

B) Stop saving CC information.

C)
...transposed house number...

Elaborate please.

[sst]

also contact all three credit agencies and put a fraud alert on your reports. It will make the credit issuer contact you prior to opening any accounts in your name