Your credit score or FICO is very important as you are defined by this ever changing number attached to your name. It can affect your ability to get a loan, your chance of getting a job and even increase the interest rate you pay.

Home ownership is a part of achieving the American dream. For many, the only thing standing between them and owning a home is a low credit score. Lenders rely heavily on FICO Scores when determining whether to fund a mortgage — low credit scores equate to high risk. Still, it isn’t impossible to get a mortgage with a low credit score.

A credit bureau gathers information about how consumers use credit. In other words, they collect information from as many consumer financial transactions or inquiries as they can. They then sell access to that combined information to anyone who has a legally-recognized reason (permissible purpose).

According to Experian.com, an unpaid tax lien will most definitely affect your credit score negatively. How much, however, varies since Experian notes that it depends on an individual’s overall track record of paying bills on time. The important thing is to find ways to get the IRS lien paid before considering options you have that can remove a current or old and paid lien from your credit score.

If you find errors or inaccuracies in your credit history file, you will have to submit a dispute letter or request to each of the credit bureaus on which the mistake appears. In some cases you may be able to dispute the error with online forms, but in some cases you’ll have to submit a letter with your corroborating documents.