It is always a good idea to make sure that the information on your credit report is accurate. Many people are surprised to find outdated or wrong information about their debts and their payment histories. Unfortunately, we wait until we are turned down for a loan or until we are denied a charge card before we investigate.

I recently found some interesting things on my credit check that I had no idea were even there. Debts that I had paid off over ten, (yes, ten) years ago were still showing unpaid balances. These two debts were paid in full a decade ago but they were still showing balances. This is very aggravating because those same companies would put a black mark on my credit check in a heartbeat if my payments were late. They can take their time recording payment in full, though.

Even though the payment history was favorable and accurate for these two bills they could have caused some problems for me. I may have had a difficult time getting a loan because I might not show capacity to pay. My credit report is used to determine if I have the capacity to pay. This is also referred to as the customer’s cap in the realm of the loan company.

I knew the importance of accurate information on my credit check because I was a loan officer years ago (back when I paid off my two debts that still show current on my report). When we would look at a customer’s report, we would use a formula to see how the person caps. In other words, we would add the numbers and divide and all of that fun math-type stuff involved in the process to see if the person could realistically make payments.

Simply put, if a person’s debts go over a certain percentage of his income, he won’t cap. He also won’t get a loan. This process is used to protect the loan company from making a bad investment and it protects the customer from getting in over his head.

My credit check showed that I might struggle with payments on a loan because two extra bills were showing as monthly obligations that I simply did not have. Of course, it only took a few phone calls to straighten everything out but I could have had money in hand a couple of days earlier if I had known what was going to be revealed on my credit check in the first place.