Page 40 - Winning The Credit Game Bundle (CK Patrick)

28 THE CREDIT GAME

sense. Perhaps there are some accounts reported that definitely don’t
belong to you. This can happen for two reasons:

There was a paperwork error involving someone with a
similar name. People who share a first and last name with a
close relative are especially prone to such errors.
Your identity was stolen. In this case, someone managed to
access enough of your personal, confidential information to
open accounts while pretending to be you.

In both cases, there are solutions you can apply to get these incor-
rect items removed from your credit report. We’ll discuss how to do
this in a later chapter, too.
Are you comfortable with your credit report? If so, make a list of
any problems reported in your report such as late payments or non-
payments. Like the lists we made in the previous chapter, this will
function as a master list to help you decide who to pay or challenge
first. The faster you address these debts, the sooner you can turn these
losses into wins on your scorecard.
Since larger debts don’t necessarily harm your credit score more,
you may wish to start by paying off small debts that appear on your
credit report immediately and work your way up. Getting a $30 late
utility bill paid off and removed from your credit report can be a very
liberating feeling!
Problem 1: ____________________________________________
Problem 2: ____________________________________________
Problem 3: ____________________________________________
Problem 4: ____________________________________________
Problem 5: ____________________________________________
Problem 6: ____________________________________________

Now that we have opened the box that is your credit report, we will
briefly discuss the other factors in addition to payment history that