It is time for us to speak out and reform credit reports and the credit bureau reporting system. The latest credit report scores have done nothing more than intensify identity theft due to the almost impossible and complicated procedure of removing erroneous information. The credit score itself designed does not depict a consumers true financial status, and creates an illusion that escalates predatory lending which only ADVERSELY affects consumers.

Your privacy is invaded and has cost tens of thousands of people employment. The burden should not lie with the consumer to remove derogatory information. It should NOT be posted without your consent in the first place. The burden should be placed back on the credit reporting agency why they information should stay there in the first place.

No harm no foul and the consumer provides evidence of erroneous information it does not post. In it's current format most consumers do not know the errors are on thier report until it is too late and almost impossible to remove. There are numerous credit scams out there posting to consumers credit reports over and over to keep it updated and are receiving payments already collected or not due but out of frustration in trying to secure a mortgage for a home they are paid unjustly.

Student loans are reported in error-- in triplicate,-- other debts sold or transferred are reported over and over which creates higher balances fraudulantly. Take a look at your credit report. See if you have a colelction account on there. Chances are the same account is listed twice. Once from the original credit and the other from the agency they sold it to.

Additionally due to the increased cases of identity theft, divorce, and health or illness, 7 to 10 years is too long for circumstances to remain on a report when they do not present a true picture. This problem is escalating and the credit scoring system which is only designed to suit a specific lifestyle is against our civil rights. People cannot obtain insurance, jobs, utilities, homes for sale or rent, transportation.

Credit reporting was created to give credit. If the system was foolproof or completely accurate then the program would be necessary, However the errors are exacerbated by the inability to correct, unless you have the means to file a law suit. It is time to speak up and control your own course of action.

CREDIT REPORTS are not beneficial as structured. We need credit reform now

So, the real question is Why are there 4; yes, FOUR credit bureaus?

You may have only heard of three.The main one and most people know is Experian, followed Equifax and Trans Union. The fourth, although hardly ever mentioned is Innovis. The reason I bring this up is because of the mass differences in our consumer credit reports from each of the four reporting agencies. You may go to apply for a loan at one place only to be denied because your score is 100-150 points lower than it would be at another location. For example: You go to ABC Ford Dealership to buy a new car and they use Equifax to run your credit pulling a score of say ‘600’ which would, in most cases cause a denial. But let’s say on the only hand you go to ABC Chevy Dealership and they use Experian and it pulls a score of ‘700’ getting you the credit you deserve.

So, why are my scores different for the 3 credit bureaus?

Fair Isaac makes the scores as consistent as possible between all three credit bureaus, but even if your information was exactly identical across all of them your scores might still slightly differ because the models for the bureaus were developed separately. However, in this case, all three scores would be within a few points of each other, unless your creditors don’t report to all the bureaus which in many situations are the case, causing a difference in excess of 100 points.

Significant score differences can result from the following situations:

·         Not all credit scores are "FICO" scores developed by Fair Isaac Corporation. So, make sure the scores you are comparing are actual FICO scores.

·         All of your credit information may not be reported to all three credit bureaus. The information on your credit report is supplied by lenders, collection agencies and court records. Don't assume that each credit bureau has the same information pertaining to your credit history.

·         You may have applied for credit under different names (for example, Robert Jones versus Bob Jones) or a maiden name, which may cause fragmented or incomplete files at the credit reporting agencies. While, in most cases, the credit bureaus combine all files accurately under the same person, there are many instances where incomplete files or inaccurate data (social security numbers, addresses, etc.) cause one person's information to appear on someone else's credit report (that's awesome - and no wonder identity theft is on the rise).

·         Lenders report credit information to the credit bureaus at different times, often resulting in one agency having more up-to-date information than another.

·         The credit bureaus may record the same information in different ways.

I recently had my identity stolen and needed to pull a credit report on myself to ensure no accounts were opened in my name. I opened an account at True Credit and pulled a three bureau report. Knowing I was missing current accounts on there, I then went to Identity Guard and did the same thing. Some of the accounts that were missing on the True Credit site were on this report but others that were on the True Credit report was not on the Identity Guard report. I then pulled a third report from Annual Credit Report and it was missing a majority of accounts that were either on one or both of the previous sites. This proves that you never actually get a full copy of your credit report from anyone even though it’s the same report. My scores varied by more than 125 points from the lowest to the highest of the three. Shocking? It should be!

This could make it hard, if not impossible for someone to obtain credit or in my case recover from identity theft because you never have an accurate snapshot of your credit reports and it is evident you can’t even get a correct and true copy of any report that any of the bureaus have on you. Don't believe me? Go and pull your credit report and check out the differences in the scores.

This is why we need to eliminate all the other bureaus and go to ONE CREDIT BUREAU. I don’t care who it is, just get it down to one. This way, consumers can go to one site, pull their complete credit report and know that everything is on there. Why the government ever allowed all these other companies (which by the way are owned by their shareholders) to open up shop and call themselves a credit bureau.

WE NEED CREDIT REPORTING REFORM NOW!!!