Applying for home loans can be a difficult and time consuming task that is rewarded with joy and elation once you are finally in your perfect home. But, there are some obstacles that can stand in your way unless you are on the lookout for them and know how to get them out of your way, so that you can be a home owner. The trouble can begin when mortgage companies look at your credit report when trying to qualify you for home loans. Due to the monitoring services offered by the credit reporting agencies (I.e. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), a collection agency can know when you are shopping for home loans, so that they will know exactly when to place a collection on your credit report (even collections that are not rightfully yours). By putting these true or false collections on your report right before you close on a home, they can force you to pay it because you may not be able to finalize your home loan until the claim is taken care of. This tactic usually robs you of your disputing rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), because you are forced to choose between buying your home or challenging the account (which can take up to 30 days). Fortunately, if you have proof that an inaccuracy was the cause for a home loan denial you can go after the credit reporting agency for damages, but most consumers are not credit savvy enough to realize when they have an inaccuracy or when this inaccuracy has caused them to be denied credit. So, how can you stop this before you pre-qualify for home loans? Some people go shopping for 'fake' home loans before they actually go shopping for real home loans. You can easily do this from home, without wasting the time of a home loan representative, by getting quotes from websites such as lendingtree.com. This way, if a collection company is monitoring your report, they will pop up when they see inquiries from the 'fake' home loans on your report. You can then take the necessary steps to validate the account before you shop for home loans. If the debt can be validated, you will know that you need to pay it before you really go shopping for home loans. If the debt cannot be validated, it will be removed form your reports. If you choose to do this, you should go shopping for your 'fake' home loans about 6 months before you plan to do your real home loan shopping. Although this may seem like a tactic that is unnecessary, it is very common for debts to pop up on ones credit report while they are in the midst of shopping for home loans, because it is a guaranteed pay day for collection companies who otherwise may have no proof that you owe a debt. They would likely not hold this account for many month or years, waiting for you to apply for a home loan, if they could easily validate the debt. Even if you think you have no outstanding debts, there may be a company out there who thinks you do. Using this method, before you start shopping for home loans, will be better for your wallet than paying off a debt that was ran up by someone else.