(ARA) – Checking your credit report regularly can help you avoid the pitfalls of bad financial decision making that can negatively impact your credit score. Knowing where you stand can also help you find inaccuracies in your credit report and correct them before they have long lasting effects on your credit-worthiness.

Under the Fair and Accurate Transactions (FACT) Act, you can request a free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. If you want to check your report more often, that’s a good idea, but there are fees for additional reports or credit monitoring products.

The things you’ll find on the report are: your personal information, your credit history, a record of inquiries made by other parties and public records (like liens or bankruptcies). Looking over the report carefully is important – any inaccuracies could have a significant impact on your credit.

While no other credit reporting system in the world compares to the U.S. credit reporting system, it is possible that, as in any complex data system, inaccurate or incomplete information may occur in your credit report.

If you find an inaccuracy or any incomplete information on your report, you have a number of options for disputing it – online is the quickest, but you can also initiate a dispute by mail or phone. Credit accounts, bankruptcies, collections, liens, judgments, inquiries and personal identification information can all be disputed. But how do you file a dispute?

Start by notifying a credit reporting agency like Equifax, who can do the work for you. They will quickly take action to investigate the matter with the creditor that provided the information. The creditor investigates the dispute and then responds to Equifax with their findings, including any necessary changes.

Within a month of your dispute request, or 45 days if your dispute is based upon your free annual disclosure report, either Equifax or CSC Credit Services (depending on who owns your credit file) will notify you of the results of its dispute investigation and provide you with a credit file reflecting the results of the investigation at no charge.

Examine your credit file carefully to make sure the inaccuracies have been corrected or removed. If the information you disputed has been re-verified, it will remain in your credit file, but you can request that it be shown as disputed and you can add a statement of explanation to your file. If you dispute online with Equifax, you can check the status of your dispute on the company’s website and receive e-mail updates.

Insurers, landlords, and loan providers can all view your credit file to gauge whether to do business with you. By checking your credit report regularly, you’re a step ahead of the game. Having a credit reporting agency help with any disputes will make it easier to keep your report in good shape. For more information, go to www.equifax.com.