Contacting the Credit Bureaus to Remove Negative Entries from Your Credit Report
It is not uncommon for many people to spend months and even years trying to remove the errors or negative information from their credit reports. Although sometimes it may feel like a fruitless path to travel, there are ways that one can beat the frustrating process of credit disputes. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumer reporting agencies are legally required to remove entries or errors from a person’s credit report if that person requests so, and only if those errors are valid.
Step One: Get Your Report
Before trying to get the bureaus to remove any unwanted information from your credit report, order a recent report from one (or all) of the agencies that have been reporting the false information. This report is needed for when you actually decide to go ahead with a dispute case, and will come in handy throughout the entire process.
Step Two: Check and Then Double Check the Report for Errors
Although you may have recently looked over your report and saw one or two errors, it is important to check it again (and then again), being as careful and thorough as possible. Errors such as mixed up addresses and the like can be indicative of identity theft or a case of mixed files.
Step Three: Write the Letter Out
Even though sending a dispute through the internet can be a lot quicker than sending it through the regular mail, the online process is made entirely for the expediency and benefit of the agency. When you send in a dispute through mail rather than online, you have much more freedom to make your case and provide details and evidence of the errors.
Tip: Use Different Disputes for Separate Errors
If you have more than one error on your report you want cleaned up, remember to use separate disputes for the respective errors. Doing each dispute one at a time increases the chance that they will all be taken care of.
Step Four: Always Include Evidence
Physically include any evidence that you have of the errors or miscalculations along with your dispute(s). This ensures that the credit bureau cannot turn around and say that you failed to provide enough information or evidence for your dispute.
Step Five: Mail Copies to the Agency and Creditor
It’s vital that you send a copy of the dispute and all related information to the creditor or collection agency that was reporting the misrepresented data in the first place.
Errors in one’s credit report can not only be damaging to their finances, they can also be signs of fraudulent activity that if caught in time may save them from immense financial hardship. If there are errors on your credit report, follow the above steps when setting up your dispute and you will have a higher chance of getting your problems taken care of.