6 Steps To Dispute Credit Report Errors By D Fraser At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

#1 Get Copies of your Credit Reports

Something all consumers should be doing at least once a year is keeping tabs on their credit history. How ever most of us don't do it unless we run into a problem. If you don't already have current copies visit AnnualCreditReport . com and request your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies.

#2 Draft a dispute letter and send it to the Credit Bureaus

If and when you find mistakes on your credit report be sure to contact the credit reporting companies right away. This is an important step, dispute credit report errors ASAP, waiting could make it more difficult to remove, and/or cause harm if you require credit at some point.

#3 Hold onto copies of all documents

When writing to dispute credit report errors never send in your original credit report, or creditor statements you're using as support. It's important that you keep a good file on your credit repair process, and have all items if requested in the future. Another piece of advice for protection is to always send items via registered mail. This will ensure the letter gets to them, and there is a tracking number for your own records.

#4 Contact Creditors if it's worth while

Depending on the item that is an error, along with your credit report dispute consider contacting the creditor correctly. A lot of information is handled via automated systems these days, and computers can make mistakes, or an employee could accidentally miss someones SSN by one digit. Creditors should contact the credit bureau to resolve issues as well, and ensure that the credit report error is deleted.

#5 Know what happens behind the scenes of a Credit Report Dispute

After a credit bureau receives your dispute credit report error, they have approximately 30 days to investigate. The credit bureaus will attempt to prove the item to be not an error, if this cannot be done then the item should be deleted. Understanding how the credit report dispute process works will help with patience while you wait, and support arguments if need be.

#6 Contact a Lawyer if you need more help

This is for more serious credit repair, and dispute cases, but there are credit repair lawyers that can help you draft credit dispute letters and help handle your case. If you feel uncomfortable handling the process yourself, or wold like someone to discuss your options with, consider seeking out a lawyer you specializes in credit report disputes.

These six steps give you a basic primer to what it takes to repair a credit report error, and what you should do and/or be careful of during the process. Remember credit reporting agencies are for profit companies, so don't expect them to want to help you out, stand your ground and provide supporting information and you'll see things happen.

If you are nervous or feel uneasy about handling your credit report information alone, there are non profit companies in most areas, as well as paid professionals that can help you understand the information on your credit report and help make decisions about what errors you could/should dispute.

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