Fixing your credit report and improving your credit score it is often best accomplished by disputing the content in your credit report with the credit reporting agency. Fixing credit report errors and inaccuracies can make your credit report look better to potential creditors and lenders and potentially improve your credit score by a significant amount. Learning exactly how to dispute a credit report is actually a fairly easy task.
If you do find an error in your credit report you need to dispute the error either by disputing the credit report online or by using a credit report dispute letter. The credit report dispute letter has been the most common method for initiating the credit report dispute but with advances in credit reporting agencies web sites, credit report disputes online are gaining popularity.
Disputes made in writing allow you to track the progress and schedule of the dispute and provide more freedom with regards to the wording and justification for the dispute. However, credit disputes are communicated to the credit reporting faster which hopefully results in a faster resolution.
The first step is to identify inaccurate information in your most recent credit report. After locating the account in your credit report to dispute, the next step is to write a letter or file a dispute online with the credit reporting agency or agencies that have listed the inaccurate information on your credit report.
When you mail the letter or dispute the account online, you should attach copies of documents that support your claims regarding the inaccurate information. The inaccurate account information in your credit report you are disputing can be big or small. For example if you are disputing the balance on an old credit card account or collection account you should supply a statement showing it is paid or has a zero balance. The supporting documents help the investigation but they are not required.
During the next step, the credit reporting agency will investigate the disputed data. The credit reporting agency will contact the creditor or other data provider that reported the information you are disputing and asks that company to verify the information in question. Remember, the credit reporting agency is just reporting the information supplied by other parties. The source of the information supplied to the credit reporting agency may have up to 45 days to verify whether the information is correct.
The credit reporting agency will then document the outcome of this investigation. If your dispute is correct the credit reporting agency will make the necessary changes to your credit report. If the information is validated by the credit provider, the credit reporting agency will inform you that the information is accurate and supply the supporting response documents. If the credit provider does not respond to the investigation, the credit reporting agency will remove any reference to that account from that provider on your credit report.
At the conclusion of the credit dispute investigation, a free copy of your report will be sent to you to reflect the changes, if there were in fact changes based on the credit dispute you initiated. The process is free and relatively easy to perform.
For additional assistance see:
Credit Dispute Online
Credit Report Dispute Letter
Get a Free Credit Report