How to Dispute Your Credit Report

Your credit report is considered to be a form of consumer report. The information that is contained includes: information about where you work, live and how you pay your bills. It can also contain information on whether you've been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy.

Credit Bureaus or consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) will sell your credit report to businesses. These businesses then use this information to ascertain your fitness to receive credit, insurance, employment, and all other purposes as provided for by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA.) The information contained in your credit report, then, is very important and must be, at all times, complete and accurate.

It becomes highly important to make regular reviews of your credit report. Look for anything at all that is irregular, inaccurate or wrong. When you do a regular check of the information contained in your credit report you are ensured that when you are in need of credit of any kind, your lender will have only the best and most accurate information about you. When a lender reviews your credit report and finds it to be amiss in any way, it is very likely that you will not be approved for the credit that you seek.

Obtaining Your Credit Report

In the event that you are denied the credit that you seek, as well as any insurance or employment related denial, the company that you apply to must then provide you with the CRA's name, address, and telephone number. You can then contact the agency for a copy of your credit report within 60 days of receiving the denial notice and you will receive the report free.

You can request your credit report from the following three national agencies. Request a copy of your report from each as they are not required to communicate with each other, meaning you have three separate histories.

Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241; (800) 685-1111. Experian (formerly TRW), P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013; (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742). Trans Union, P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022; (800) 916-8800.

Disputing your Credit Report

As stipulated by law under the FCRA, the CRA and the organization, such as a bank or credit card company, that provided the information to the CRA, must correct inaccurate or incomplete information in your credit report. Contact both the CRA and the information provider to ensure that you are well protected.

Inform the CRA that you believe specific information in your credit report is inaccurate. Send copies (NOT originals) of any documents to support the position that you take. Provide detailed information as follows:

1) Name 2) Address 3) Each item disputed 4) Why you dispute the items 5) Your request to delete or correct

Send a copy of the credit report with the disputed items circled and send it by certified mail. Request a return receipt and document what the CRA received. Copy yourself with the letter and all enclosures. Keep in a safe place.

The CRAs are required to reinvestigate your disputed items and do so within thirty days. They may refuse to do this if they feel that your dispute is frivolous. They are also required by law to forward all of the relevant documentation that you provide them with concerning the dispute to the information provider. The information provider then are required to investigate and review all of the relevant documentation as provided by the CRA. They are then required to report the results of their findings to the CRA. They are required to notify all nationwide CRAs with any information the provider finds to be inaccurate, so that the credit report can be corrected. Any of the disputed information that cannot be verified is then deleted from your file.

If your report contains erroneous information, the CRA must correct it. If an item is incomplete, the CRA must complete it. For example, if your file showed that you were late making payments, but failed to show that you were no longer delinquent, the CRA must show that you're current. If your file shows an account that belongs only to another person, the CRA must delete it.

Once the reinvestigation has concluded, the CRA then will give you the written results and a free copy of your report when the dispute results in a change. When an item is changed in any way or removed, the CRA cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies its accuracy and completeness, and the CRA gives you a written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider.

On your personal request, the CRA will send notices of corrections to anyone who received your credit report within the past six months. Job applicants can have a corrected copy of their report sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years for employment purposes. You are entitled to ask the CRA to include your dispute statement in your file as well as in future reports when a reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute.

Take the time to write the creditor or other information provider that you dispute an item(s). Do the same, writing the CRA. Be sure to include copies and NOT originals of any documents that are in support of your position. Some providers will stipulate an address for the purpose of dealing with disputes. When a provider reports an item to a CRA, a notice is then included of your dispute. In the event that the disputed information is not accurate the information provider is not allowed to use it again.

Accurate Negative Information

Credit information reported because of an application for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limit. Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer. If there is accurate negative information on your report, a prescribe period of time must go by before it can be removed. Accurate negative information can remain on your report for seven years, with the exception of criminal convictions information may be reported without any time limitation. Bankruptcy information may be reported for ten years. Credit information reported in response to an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limit.

Adding Accounts to Your File

Your credit file may not include all of your credit accounts. Not all creditors will supply information to the CRA. When denied credit because of an "insufficient credit file" or "no credit file" and you have accounts with creditors that don't appear in your credit file, you can ask the CRA to add this information to future reports. They are not obligated to comply, however, many CRAs will add verifiable accounts for a fee. Keep in mind, that, if these creditors fail to report to the CRA, added items can not be assumed to be updated in your file.