Credit Repair Basics - Disputing Credit Report Errors
January 28, 2008
Having your credit report accurately represent your true credit situation is very important. The problem is that most people do not check their credit regularly, if ever. They only know about a problem once they apply for credit. I suggest keeping tabs on your credit. You are entitled to a free credit report from each agency every year, take advantage of it. But what to do if you find an error on your credit report?
The credit reporting agencies are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information that shows on your credit report. If you find an item that is inaccurate, you need to dispute that item. I suggest disputing each item with each credit reporting agency. If you have three items that are inaccurate, you should make 9 separate disputes, one dispute for each item to each reporting agency. I have put the links to the three reporting agencies below:
For each dispute, identify the inaccurate item, include any documentation that shows it to be inaccurate and include your complete name and address. You need to be very clear in each dispute as to which item you are talking about. You may want to include a copy of your report, with the item in question circled. Explain why you are disputing the item in question , and request that it be removed or corrected. If you are mailing the letter, send it by return receipt, certified mail, and keep copies of the documentation you sent as well as to when it arrives to the reporting agency. If you prefer, you can now submit disputes online at each of the reporting agency’s websites. You can find the online dispute section on the home page of each of the agencies.
Once your dispute is received, the reporting agency must investigate your disputed items. The reporting agency will forward your dispute with supporting documentation to the actual creditor reporting the inaccurate trade line. The creditor must then look into the matter and report back to the reporting agency. If the creditor finds that your dispute is merited, it must notify all three reporting agencies so they can correct the information on your credit report. Once the reporting agency submits your dispute to the creditor, the creditor has 30 days to report back to the agency. After the reporting agency gets the dispute findings back, they will send you a written response with their findings.
If your dispute does not get resolved to your satisfaction, you can submit another dispute. I suggest including new documentation to prove your case. Another option is to submit your dispute directly to the creditor. You should be able to find the contact information for them on your credit report, name, address and phone number. You can call them to discuss the item, or send them a letter and documentation in the same manner as I outlined above. They have the ability to remove or correct information they report if they realize a mistake has been made.
This is a pretty straight forward process, and one you can do yourself in an evening. If there are mistakes on your credit report, I suggest taking care of them immediately. You may not plan on needing to apply for credit anytime soon, but it can be a bit of a time consuming process. Time consuming is not what you want to deal with when applying for credit. Start to finish, it could be a 2 or 3 month process, depending on the findings of the creditor and the documentation you have to back up your claim. If you keep tabs on your credit, and make sure it stays clean, it will save you potential frustration down the line.
Keep in mind that the dispute process is intended to help you remove inaccurate items from your report. It is not designed to help you remove accurate information. The only way to remove accurate information is to let enough time pass that it falls off your report.
Check back in, I will be writing more related to credit issues in the coming weeks. It is an important topic, having a good, clean credit report can save you a bundle over your lifetime.
Posted in Borrower Resources, Your Credit
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January 31st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Very interesting articles, I enjoy reading the daily blog, each one brings up a new topic. Keep it up, great job
marty
March 25th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
[…] Credit Repair Basics - Disputing Credit Report Errors You should be able to find the contact information for them on your credit report, name, address and phone number. You can call them to discuss the item, or send them a letter and documentation in the same manner as I outlined above. … […]
April 1st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
[…] Credit Repair Basics - Disputing Credit Report Errors You should be able to find the contact information for them on your credit report, name, address and phone number. You can call them to discuss the item, or send them a letter and documentation in the same manner as I outlined above. … […]
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:29 pm
[…] Credit Repair Basics - Disputing Credit Report Errors I suggest disputing each item with each credit reporting agency. If you have three items that are inaccurate, you should make 9 separate disputes, one dispute for each item to each reporting agency. I have put the links to the three … […]