Disputing Your Credit Report PLUS Sample Credit Repair Letter

Step 3 - Correcting Any Inaccuracies And Filing A Dispute

Now that you have examined and analyzed your report, it's now time to correct any inaccuracies.

Credit bureas are required by law to correct any inaccuracies. If an item on your credit report is incomplete, they have to complete it. If there are transactions on there that you did not make, they must be deleted.

So What Items Should I Dispute?

Generally, you would want to aim to remove every negative item. Some items are easier to remove than others. For instance, it's not that easy to remove bankruptcies, foreclosures, child support and any other court judgements as the credit bureaus can easily find evidence for these.

Here's A Basic strategy:

1. Dispute negative item as "not mine" basis first

2. If rejected, dispute the information within the negative item. Some of the ways you could dispute an item includes: (by all means be creative)

1. Not mine (not my account)
2. Wrong amount
3. Wrong account number
4. Wrong original creditor
5. Wrong Date of Last Activity
6. I didn't pay late that month
7. Wrong Balance
8. Wrong Credit limit
9. Wrong Status

3. Repeat process, until item is removed. (Don't give up!)

There are 3 ways in which you can file a dispute:

A) By Mail (what we recommend)

Should you find any inaccuracies, you can dispute these by sending a letter along with copies (not originals) of supporting documents to the credit bureaus. I highly recommend this method as it's a way of documenting your credit repair efforts as well as protecting you should anything go missing.

In your letter, included your Name, SSN, Address, and a copy of his driver's license and then state which items of the report you are disputing and why you disagree with it. To make things easier, you can make a copy of the credit report with the items or transactions in question circled and enclose this.

Some credit bureaus offer a standard form which you can print and fill in. Visit the links below for these forms:

Click here to download transunion dispute forms

It is best to send the letter using CERTIFIED mail so you can be sure that it was received. Also keep all your receipts for future reference should anything come up.

If you wish to write your own letter, then here is a sample of the letter you can include:

Date
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code

Complaint Department
Name of Credit Bureau
Address
City, State, Zip Code

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. The items I dispute also are encircled on the attached copy of the report I received.

This item "XXX" is (inaccurate or incomplete) because "YYY". I am requesting that the item be deleted (or request another specific change) to correct the information.

Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence if applicable and describe any enclosed documentation, such as payment records, court documents) supporting my position. Please reinvestigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Your name

Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing)

Replace XXX with the item you are disputing

Replace YYY with the reason why it is inaccurate or incomplete

B) Online

There are other ways to correct inaccuracies on your report. One is by filing it online. This enables your dispute to be dealt with much quicker and you are also able to track the status.

Click here to visit Transunion Online dispute center

Click here to visit Experian online dispute center

C) By Phone

You can also dispute items on your credit report by phone. To do this you must have a customer number, usually given when you obtained your credit report.

For Transunion, dispute an item on your credit report by phoning: 1-800-916-8800. For Transunion Fraud Victim Assistance Department: 1-800-680-7289

For Experian contact them by phoning their customer services on: 1-888 397 3742

For Equifax, you should usually find the number on your credit report or contact them on 1-888-766-0008

Step 4 - Documenting All Your Efforts

I can stress this enough. The reason why it's important to document all your efforts is that like anything else, the negative item you have tried so hard to erase, can suddenly reappear! To give yourself some leverage, you need to file every report you received plus all your correspondence and postal receipts.

In fact, if possible record all telephone conversations or at least acquire the full name of persons spoken to regarding the removal of any negative item as well as the date and time you spoke to them.

This will help in the event where a negative item reappears on your report.