Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and Navigating Credit Reports

Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from September 15 to October 15 each year, is a time to honor and recognize the rich cultural heritage and contributions of Hispanic and Latinx individuals in the United States. Additionally, it is also an opportunity to reflect on the unique challenges faced by these communities and address important issues, including consumer financial protection.

In the CFPB’s 2021 report, it was found that consumers in majority Hispanic neighborhoods are more likely to have disputes of inaccurate information appear on their credit reports. Credit reports and scores play a major role not only in lending decisions, but also in your current and future employment, tenant screening, and insurance applications. Ensuring that credit reports and scores are accurate is paramount in building and maintaining your financial health and reputation. As these errors can have significant effects on your credit scores, it is essential for you to know your rights when it comes to disputing errors on your credit reports.

Here are some tips on how to ensure accuracy on your credit reports:

• Order your free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com ensure accuracy.  
• Review your reports and dispute any errors or discrepancies, if there are any.
• Learn how to build and maintain credit using our Money Basics Guide to Credit Management.  
• In case of fraud or identity theft, place a fraud alert on your credit report.
• Ask your credit union about financial literacy resources on credit management and other personal finance topics.

Overall, credit is important because it provides you with the ability to access resources and opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. Make sure it reflects your creditworthiness and trustworthiness accurately by knowing your rights.