How to Fix Errors on Your Credit Report
August 3rd, 2009, Written By: admin
You know that requesting your free credit report will not hurt your score or your history, so you’ve requested your copy. Maybe you’ve even signed up for a credit monitoring service. You look over your report and find an error that is bringing you down. What do you do now?
First you want to get proof of the error. This can include items such as your canceled checks, previous billing statements, any relevant court judgment papers, and a letter from your creditor acknowledging the status of the account in question. Start contacting the credit bureau that listed the error and keep a log of all the calls you make, emails you send, names of people you talk to, etc. Make sure that when you send anyone your documentation that you send photocopies and keep the originals for yourself—you may not get them back, or they may get lost in the mail, and then you’re out of luck.
Inform the creditor of the mistake. If they reported something incorrectly (for example, that the account is still open but you have proof that you paid it off), they must correct the error and contact the bureau to have it updated or removed. In fact, once you report an error to the credit bureau, they are required to contact your creditor. The creditor has 30 days to send proof that the account is open and valid and belongs to you. If they don’t, the error must be removed from your report, and you will receive another free copy of it.
If your inquiry turns into a larger dispute, you can take legal action. You’ll be spending more time and money to get the error removed, but if it’s hurting your score and you know it should not be on your report, it’s well worth it.
At the end of all these steps, if the error cannot be removed, you are entitled to add a small explanation to it on your report. For example, if you missed payments to your credit card because you lost your job or had medical problems, this can be listed alongside the account. The creditor is also required to include your explanation every time they report to the bureaus. This will not improve your score, but the next time you apply for credit, the lender may be more inclined to approve you if they understand the circumstances behind your negative history.
Categories: Credit Report Dispute
