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The big three Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs)—Equifax, Experian and Trans Union—have come to an agreement with the New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, to overhaul the way they report consumer credit which will benefit consumers nationwide.

“Credit reports touch every part of our lives,” said Mr. Schneiderman. “They affect whether we can obtain a credit card, take out a college loan, rent an apartment or buy a car and sometimes even whether we can get jobs.”

Under this settlement, the CRAs have agreed to leave medical collections off credit reports until they are 180 days delinquent. This will give you 6 months to correct any billing errors with medical providers before they negatively affect your credit.

In many cases, consumers have been hit with late payment infractions on their credit reports because insurance companies have delayed or missed payments. This new agreement will prevent that. Now you’ll have time to figure out what the insurance company owes and make sure they pay what is due or be reimbursed for your out of pocket expense without hurting your credit score. The agreement also says that any debts paid by insurance must be removed from the credit report. So if your insurance is still lagging on the payment, it will be removed once the payment is processed, rather than lingering on your report for years to come.

You never plan for an illness or accident. Even if you have an 800 credit score, your score can suddenly plummet because of an accidental slip and fall or car crash. That can make your score the same as someone who irresponsibly used his credit to purchase a 70-inch TV he couldn’t afford. This New York AG agreement with the CRAs is designed to prevent that unfair situation.

Along with the medical debt, the CRAs have also agreed to implement a new process for filing disputes on credit reports. Under the present system a file can only be disputed when you believe your credit report is inaccurate. The bureaus receive these disputes and put them through an automated process. In some cases, the mistakes will be corrected, but in most cases they remain unchanged. Under the new system the disputes will be reviewed by specially trained employees in order to resolve it.

Consumers have been complaining for years that the system makes it very difficult to correct errors and disputes on credit reports. If you have outdated information on your report, you may be able to get it removed. However, if you have been a victim of identity theft, you may be stuck with incorrect information on your report for years to come. Consumer groups estimate that 1 out of every 4 consumers has some kind of incorrect information on their credit reports. Updating and correcting this information has always taken take an abundant amount of time and money.

Since the CRAs will now have an actual staff of trained employees to review disputes, they will investigate deeper and fix incorrect information that has been overlooked by the automated process. These changes will be implemented nationwide within the next 3 years, though most the new procedures will go into effect over the next 6-18 months.

This agreement is a major victory for you, the consumer. The dispute process has been overwhelming with medical debt accounting for over half of all errors on credit reports. It’s important to know any factors that are impacting your credit score and to take action against any mistakes that have been made. If you haven’t checked your credit report in a while, now is the time to get a new report.

Credit reports can be confusing, and attempting to understand them can sometimes be like learning a foreign language. It is best if you get professional help to interpret your reports and begin the process of removing errors. My favorite credit experts are at Better Qualified, they will go over your credit report with you and identify all negative items that could be unnecessarily depressing your credit score. You can get one free Trans Union credit report and score when you give Better Qualified a call or contact them online.

After completing the credit analysis, the experts at Better Qualified will educate you on how to improve your credit score. If your report is plagued by derogatory accounts that are inaccurate, Better Qualified will attempt to remove them from the report using legitimate techniques they have perfected over the years. The less derogatory information on your report, the better your credit score will be.

If you’re one of the 77 million Americans who have debts that have gone into collection, you will benefit even more by the service offered by Better Qualified. Collections take time and money to pay off and will remain on your credit report for up to 7 years after they have been paid off. Better Qualified has a team of attorneys that look for violations under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in the way you have been treated in the collection process. Their attorneys have been successful in not only getting your collections satisfied without you having to make any payments, but also getting them removed from your credit report.

If you become a client of Better Qualified, they will work to remove any errors on your credit report even after their original assignment has been completed.

Your credit score is the most important number in your financial life! Make sure it is as high as possible by getting rid of any errors on your credit report. Take action now to find out what is on your report and how your score can be improved. Go to www.TourDeCredit.com or call 732-413-8559 and get your free credit analysis from Better Qualified.