Dealing with credit report mistakes
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Dowers-Turpin says she verified that the carpet company had her correct name and Social Security number and was instructed to contact Equifax. She talked with the manager who pulled her credit file to let her know she did have a bankruptcy. The manager told her that her husband had filed for bankruptcy around 1987 and it showed up on her report. It gets worse. Dowers-Turpin was married in 1983 but was granted a divorce three months later in 1984.

Dowers-Turpin says the manager required her to send her a copy of her divorce decree "and explained that credit files are commingled when a marriage occurs and are not separated unless they are notified to do so and evidence of a divorce is presented." 

Getting it straight
Bankrate did not question each of the credit bureaus about these individuals' cases. However, the credit reporting bureaus have offered five general tips to help smooth out the process and get your credit records straight, ranked from best to worst.

5 tips from the credit bureaus

1. Disputing online is the most efficient way to get the problem resolved, followed by the phone, mail and fax. Eighty percent of the consumers who dispute their information online have the information resolved within 10 days, says Norm Magnuson, spokesman for the Consumer Data Industry Association. He says it will take another three to four days to get the letter out and received by the consumer. Maxine Sweet, spokeswoman for Experian, says if you call the agency you will need to have your credit report in front of you when you call. A specific number on the report will be requested by the customer service representative and that number expires after 90 days. Sweet suggests when sending mail to Experian to mark the exact problem right on the report. For example, "I was not late in September of '05." 2. When disputing personal identification, provide copies of at least two pieces of identification, such as your driver's license and utility bill, to support your argument. 3. If you wish to show that the bill is either up-to-date or paid, provide a letter from the creditor confirming that the dispute was resolved or you should provide the cashed check. Sweet suggests sending proof to the creditor, not to Equifax. "We can't usually do anything with the proof except to make a copy and mail it to the creditor." 4. Don't bury important facts with lots of words when explaining your situation. Keep your explanation short and to the point. 5. Keep copies of any correspondence.

By law, credit reporting agencies must look into the problem within 30 days after receiving the consumer dispute, taking into account all relevant information provided by the consumer. If the consumer provides additional information during that 30 days, the agencies can have a 15-day extension. The agencies have five business days upon receiving the complaint to notify the providers of the credit information, such as the credit card issuer or mortgage lender.

When the creditor receives the information from the credit reporting agency, it must conduct an investigation, review all relevant materials from the agency and report the results to the agency before the agency's investigation period ends.

If the creditor's investigation finds that the information wasn't complete or correct, the creditor must report the results to all credit reporting agencies to which it reported the faulty information.

If the agency found the information wasn't complete, correct or couldn't be confirmed, the agency must delete or change the item.

A letter, along with a credit report if the file has been changed, is sent no later than five business days after the agency has examined the problem. The letter informs the consumer about the procedures used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the disputed item, and lets the consumer know that he or she has the right to add a statement to his or her file disputing the accuracy or completeness of the information.

Working on the consumer's behalf
For those who continue to see errors on their credit reports, the credit agencies say persistence is key.

"They need to be diligent to stay in touch with the credit grantor and with Equifax and keep documentation of the information," says David Rubinger, spokesman for Equifax.

Both Experian and TransUnion say they will always work on the behalf of the consumer to make their reports as accurate as possible.

Sweet acknowledges that mistakes do happen.

"We deal with millions of consumers a year," she says. "Sometimes it doesn't work correctly the first time around. Sometimes there is human error. Occasionally systems fail or people make mistakes, and consumers shouldn't accept that as the standard. That's when we would ask the consumer to contact us again so that we can understand the situation better and make it right."