How to Remove Credit Report Errors

Knowing your exact credit history or what is on your credit report is very important when you intend to apply for a loan or make a major purchase that requires credit. If there is an error on your credit report this will impact the creditor's choice in lending. Your best bet is to order a 3-in-1 credit report. This includes a report from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The reason for making inquiries of all three is because the three national credit bureaus do not communicate with each other, so you have, in effect, three credit histories. It is your responsibility to be sure that the information contained on each of the three reports is accurate and free of all errors. If you do find errors, negative history, or anything at all that is not expected you can have the negative credit erased.

Federal law mandates that there is a time allotted for your negative information to remain on your credit report. It does not, however, mandate that the agencies must report that the negative information is on your credit report. The law stipulates that most negative information must be erased after seven years from the date of original delinquency or, in the case of public records, the date of filing. This includes late payments, accounts that the lender turns over to a collection agency as well as the judgments that are filed against you in court. This is true even when you later pay the account in full.

You can file a "Dispute Form" with your credit bureau if you find any incorrect information on your credit report(s), and you can also request an investigation of that information by the bureau who reports the information.

How to Have Errors Removed from your Equifax Credit Report

Complete the Dispute Form sent with your credit report, and provide the details of the information that you believe are incorrect. The credit bureau then checks with the credit grantor or public record office to see if any erroneous information has been reported. Within thirty days the information that could not be verified will be removed from your report. When the credit grantor does positively verify the information to be correct, you then contact the source of that information and resolve the dispute with the creditor, directly. Should you feel that the item on your credit report is correct, yet you disagree with it being reported, you can then send the credit bureau a brief statement to be included within your report. Your statement must be within 100 words in length, and within 200 words in length only for the residents of the state of Maine. It will then be disclosed whenever your credit report is accessed. This is done each time.

You are entitled to request an updated credit report when it requires a change, deletion or any other adjustment to information that you are concerned about, to be sent to any creditor that received your credit report in the past six months. The period changes to twelve months for Colorado, New York and Maryland residents, and/or any company that received your credit report in the past two years for the purposes of employment.

How to Have Errors Removed from your Trans Union Credit Report.

You are entitled to dispute any information on your Trans Union credit report. Contact the office listed at the bottom of your Trans Union report. Trans Union will then confirm the receipt of your dispute and they will also provide you with a toll-free number so that you can easily contact them.

While your dispute is pending, Trans Union recommends that you not apply for credit. They will investigate your dispute within thirty days from the date that they receive your request. Should they not be able to verify the disputed information within the thirty days, they will delete the disputed item from your credit report or it will be updated, as requested. Once the investigation has been successfully looked into, you will receive a revised report to advise you of the results of the investigation.

Within a period of five business days, when they find that the disputed information is subsequently verified, they will reinsert the information into your file and notify you in writing. Should their investigation result in their not being able to resolve the dispute, you are then entitled to add a 100 word explanatory statement to your report. Should you wish, they will also assist you to prepare the statement. You are entitled to request that they provide you with a description of how they conducted the investigation. This is to include the name, address, and telephone number of anyone that they contact for information during their investigation.

How to Have Errors Removed from your Experian (formerly TRW) Credit Report.

Should you find an error on your Experian credit report, you can call or write them according to the instructions found on your credit report. When explaining your dispute, be very specific. You will want to give Experian correct information as to the source of the information through providing good detail. This will aid them in being able to properly resolve your dispute.

Experian will go over the details of your dispute, and then they will contact the source of the information provided. They will then send you an update. Should you continue to disagree with the information provided, you can further add a statement to the credit report. You can also request their assistance to word the statement. You can expect this process to take up to thirty days to be completed.

When you follow each of the steps provided you can expect an accurate and speedy conclusion to your disputes.

To Recap, you will need to do the following:

1) Complete all Forms accurately and in a timely manner according to the criteria given.

2) Send all material by Certified Mail. Ask for a request for return receipt that is dated from your reporting agency.

3) Look for a response within 30 days. Make a phone call should all parties not comply with the timeframe as given. Alternatively, send a letter and entitle it "no response." This will get the agencies attention quickly.

4) In the event that you feel that your credit report does not accurately reflect what you feel is a true and complete representation of your actual credit history, you are then entitled to make up a 100 word statement to be placed on your credit report. This will state your dispute and why you feel it is incorrect.

5) Keep accurate records of all of your communications with each credit reporting agency. Record the name of the person you deal with for follow-up. Date all correspondence accurately. Do the same for all of your telephone communication.

6) Remember to follow-up. Should you not receive a timely response from the credit reporting agency make a telephone call and request an immediate follow-up asking for an explanation.

Consumers lose out time and time again because of lack of proper information. An educated consumer is a wise consumer. Do not allow even the least detail to slide and you will receive the good results that you deserve.