What you don't know about your credit report can hurt you. But what can really hurt you even more is when you report errors to the credit bureaus and they don't care to update them. Accuracy costs money; the bureaus are only too happy to sell somewhat accurate reports. More than 1 in 4 people have errors on their reports that can lead to higher interest rates, denial of a job and worse. A Florida woman recently sued Equifax because her file was married with someone else's who had bad credit. She repeatedly provided documentation to clear her name. Equifax refused to do anything about it and the company's negligence cost the woman $220,000. When the case went to trial, the jury awarded the woman $2.9 million! Equifax has vowed to appeal, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

Clark says that the laws governing the bureaus don't have enough teeth in them. People should not have to go to the mat and fight repeatedly to get their credit cleared. The problem is that these bureaus are not focused on you and me; they just want to deliver higher value to shareholders. So they won't be accurate unless they're required by law. The sad truth is that there is no way to force bureaus to be accurate -- short of the Florida woman's method. Clark hopes the bureaus get knocked around in the courts so much that their bottom line is damaged and they're forced to change their ways.