Check your credit reports often

A new Zogby poll reveals how important it is to check reports routinely. Almost four in 10 of us have serious incorrect info on our reports. The National Consumer Law Center, meanwhile, has found that one in four of us have such extensive damage that we have significant difficulty getting credit.

In related news, The San Francisco Chronicle recently ran a report on how lives are getting fouled up because of wildly inaccurate info on those reports.

For example, one woman had her American Express account closed because her report falsely showed that she filed for bankruptcy. She hadn't! But it took a year to get it removed from her report. Years later, the erroneous bankruptcy popped up again and she still can't get it removed.

Another fellow had his Experian credit report momentarily go haywire and then correct itself just as quickly. So his credit score was 760 one month and then mysteriously dropped to 410 for the next month. His creditors who checked his monthly reports quickly canceled his accounts. And then, just as soon as all the shenanigans started, his score rose back up to 760 the following month! Whatever went wrong got fixed on its own. But in the meantime, all his creditors who closed accounts won't re-open them now.

In the United States, the credit bureaus got a law passed through Congress that gives consumers very few rights if the bureaus mess up.

Clark hears all the time from listeners who have all the necessary documentation to vindicate their credit, yet it's like talking to a wall at the bureaus -- even if you can get through to a human.

By contrast, if you look at Canada, the credit bureaus have to consider any documentation you provide equally with the creditor's side of the story. No such luck in the United States.