“Obviously this is a serious situation. I’m going to get our security and forensics teams involved”, said Equifax’s VP, Corporate Communications – on being contacted for a recent case that made quite a buzz on social channels. The case involved a Maine-based woman who received credit reports of more than 300 US citizens in her email, instead of her own. This incident marks a major lapse on the part of Equifax – one of the three major credit reporting agencies in the US, entrusted with the task of maintaining the financial data of US citizens; data that contains their financial information, social security number, dates of birth, contact info, bank and loan account numbers, and other such info.

The Criticality Doesn’t End There

Instances such as the above are not the only issues faced by US citizens when it comes to engagements with credit management bureaus. All three credit bureaus have been repeatedly criticized for their convoluted processes, due to which a number of citizens are required to wait for months before their credit reports are fixed. If such is the state of affairs with the supposedly most competent credit rating agencies in the country, there is no real respite for the common man who has little to no understanding of credit score calculations.

Steps Taken by Credit Bureaus

Thankfully, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are apparently working towards addressing the inadequacies in their current dispute resolution processes. One of the key steps taken by the bureaus is hiring trained employees, instead of using automated systems, thereby enabling manual review of outrightly rejected documents. In addition, the bureaus have also decided to overhaul their approach towards medical debts on consumers’ reports, allowing a 6-month waiting period for citizens to resolve issues pertaining to their medical bills.

What About “Now”?

These discussed steps are to be implemented in the next 18 months to 3 years. This, however, doesn’t mean that the citizens currently do not have an option to seek redressal for the issues in their credit reports. Credit repair companies offer an array of services that not only help citizens to identify inaccuracies in their reports and get them rectified but also provide expert advice on maintaining a healthy credit score. Credit repair experts have in-depth knowledge of filing credit reporting disputes, as well as all relevant federal and state laws.

Seek Help from Credit Repair Company

Though credit bureaus may have more than few initiatives in the pipeline to eliminate the flaws in their data management and dispute address systems, it may be a while before US citizens can expect a well-oiled mechanism managing their credit reporting affairs. Until then, those with a low credit score may seek help from credit repair companies. If you too have any questions related to your credit report, feel free to call us at 866-611-9531 or drop us an email at info@buildmyscores.com. Our team of credit repair experts will be happy to assist.