According to a recent article on Forbes, Americans may see their credit scores go up as the three (3) major reporting bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—all start eliminating tax liens and civil judgments from their credit reports.

From a common sense standpoint, it may seem obvious why negative civil judgments or tax liens would show up on a report as those issues would certainly affect a person’s financial stability. However, the Forbes article points out that reports of civil judgments and tax liens often were attached to the wrong consumer, which resulted in someone with no judgments or liens being impacted by mistakes made by the credit agencies.

These mistakes on credit reports often occur between family members with the same or similar name, i.e. John Smith, Sr. and John Smith, Jr. In these cases, the negative credit information for a father may show up on the son’s credit report because the names are similar, and the addresses are often the same because the family lives together. As a result, the son may end up being denied for a job or a loan because of mistaken information on his credit report that should have been reported for his father.

Getting a copy of your credit report for free is relatively simple. Take a look at our previous post on free credit reports here for instructions. If there is any information on your report that is incorrect or fraudulent, do not hesitate to contact us. It is vital to act quickly if you notice any mistakes on your credit report.