How can I correct something on my credit report?

My mom put a bill in my name that was in no way my bill. I do now know how to go about correcting this. The bill has been sent to a collection aggency and is now being reported on my credit report. Do I need to call the creditor? the collector? or the credit buraou to correct this? Thanks!
Additional Details
Well crap, I don't want to charge my mom with identity fraud. True I'm mad about it, but not that mad. If she is in no way tied to the account, and I don't mention that she did it, what is the likeliness that she will be charged for it? I know this is a vague question to be asked, but is there any way we can just transfer it into her name? I probably sound really stupid, but I appreciate your patience.

There are a lot of good answers above with some correct information. Here are the steps you will need to do to get this corrected.

** You may be considered a victim of Identity Theft. Almost all cases of ID Theft involve a family member. I will address how to resolve this later.**

There are a few steps you must take to get your report updated.

1. You must request a copy of your report directly from the credit agency.
-You can do this by getting your Free Credit Report from the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov
- If you have applied for credit in the last 30 days you are entitled to a free copy of the report.
- You can pay for a copy of your report directly on the credit bureau sites.

2. You must complete a dispute. You can try to dispute the information online with EACH of the 3 agencies. If you need to send them documentation then you will need to write a letter explaining the information to be corrected/removed along with a copy of your documents.

3. The credit agency will process your request and send you a revised copy of your report reflecting the changes with in 45 days of the dispute. (The creditor has 30 days to verify the information is correct as reported or the info is removed. Then a couple of extra days for mailing stuff)

4. Contact the creditor - ask for a copy of the application or what ever was used to set up the account. Inform them that you did not open this account and are trying to resolve it.

5. When the collector calls let them know you are disputing the account, because it was not opened by you.

6. If the account can not be cleared in the above fashion you will have 2 choices:

i) Pay the debt your self and be done with it.
ii) File for ID Theft.

**Identity Theft**

1. You must file a police report. Yes you would have to press charges against your mother. This is why most cases are just left and paid by the victim.

2. Put a freeze on your credit. Before anyone can pull or issue credit they will have to contact you by the phone # you provide on the report before they can proceed.

3. Add a consumer statement to the collection. This is a statement that can be added to the report to explain to the person looking at it the situation. This is done through the credit bureaus.

3. Wait, wait, and wait some more.

If the bill is small I suggest disputing it first. If it doesn't go away then pay it.
Put a freeze on your credit.

If the bill is large and you can not pay it - Your only option is to file for ID Theft.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

~Danke Schoen

Nathan Ellis
MrDankeSchoen@yahoo.com
925-250-6067

Here is the contact info for the 3 agencies:

Equifax Information Services, LLC
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

Experian
701 Experian Parkway
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
888-397-3742
www.experian.com

TransUnion
P.O. Box 4000
Chester, PA 19022
866-887-2673
www.transunion.com

For more information on credit visit Fair Isaac's(They created the credit score) site www.myFICO.com

~Danke Schoen

Nathan Ellis
MrDankeSchoen@yahoo.com
925-250-6067

Write a letter to the creditor, and send a copy of it to the creditor and Equifax. Be prepared to do a lot of writing to correct this. It takes time

You need to contact all involved. The Creditor, the collector, and the Credit Bureau. You need to contact the creditor in writing and make sure you keep copies of everything. Send a copy of the correspondence to the collector. Contact all 3 credit bureaus to dispute the charge. Make sure you use their forms (you can get on line from their websites). Make sure you send all copies of correspondence and any documentation that you may have.

You really need to 1st call the creditor/collector . It will take about 6 weeks after this before it comes off of your credit report, then call the credit bureau if it does not come off by then.

Very interesting.

If the individual who stole your identity for personal gain was a relative stranger, you would be willing to press charges.

However, since it is your own mother who was willing to ruin your credit for her own personal, selfish gain (without your knowledge or consent, mind you!), it's a different story?

The criminal act is just that -- it is criminal.

Stop trying to save your mother from herself! She is grown and knows full-well what her intentions were when she put that bill in YOUR name without asking you.

She figured -- better her than me!

If your credit matters to you -- do what you gotta do to protect it.

The last time I looked, I rarely got a loan based on family loyalty.

It's understandable that you don't want your mom to get in trouble, but the bottom line is that someone is liable for the debt. If you're not willing to report what happened, they YOU are that someone.

yea just call and tell what happened but don't say it was your mom because that's identity theft and she could get put and jail so say it was one a person you knew

All of the above. You need to write to them and give them all the info regarding the account and then they should take care of it from there. But keep on them because they are a little slow sometimes, quick to but it on a slow the remove it.

http://ebooks.interkeys.com/money/repair_credit1 has a complete guide to remove this off your report. Fix this before you go apply for any kind of load otherwise it will hurt you bigtime

You may want to contact the creditor to let them know the account was opened in your name without your knowledge or consent. A credit bureau may request an affidavit and/or police report because this type of thing is generally considered identity theft.

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

If you are able to clear this up with the creditor, try to get them to remove the items from your credit report. If they do not, then file a dispute with each credit bureau that is reporting the error.

The best way to dispute errors on your credit report is through each credit reporting agency's online dispute system. However, if you prefer a more tangible paper trail, you can submit the dispute in writing. The following links are to each credit reporting agency's (credit bureau's) dispute web page.

Equifax:
https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/sitepage.ehtml?forward=online_dispute&partner_cd=PPSS1

Experien:
http://www.experian.com/disputes/index.html

TransUnion:
http://www.transunion.com/content/page.jsp?id=/personalsolutions/general/data/DisputeCreditReport.xml&from=TransUnionHome

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