With so many people offering a jungle of information on how to fix your credit it’s easy to get lost in the trees. Most of these are just attempts to sell you a product of theirs more so than to help you solve your credit problems. My goal here is to give you some clear, concise and free information for you to use.
By now I am sure you know that you need to start by obtaining a copy of your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies (Trans Union, Equifax and Experian). According to Fair Credit Reporting Act you are entitled to have any inaccurate information deleted from your file. You are entitled to one free credit report from all thee once a year thanks to this same Federal law. In case you need a report and are not entitled to a free one, you can request one from any of the agencies. The prices usually range from $10.00 to $20.00 dollars each (prices vary by agency).
You can get these reports on line at annualcreditreport.com or have them mailed to you if you prefer. Make sure you get a copy from all three as they do not always have the same information. You may also be eligible for a free credit report if any of these apply to you:
• You are unemployed and starting to look for work
• Been turned down for credit based on your credit report
• Had your Identity stolen
• Are on welfare and or public assistance
• Live in a State that entitles you to free report each year as well as your free annual one.
Once you have copies of your credit files you will want to look over them and make note of any errors or mistakes in your report. If you find inaccurate information in any of your reports you can dispute them with the agency. The best way to do this is online on the agencies website. You can however also make your dispute by phone or by mailing your dispute to the credit agencies. Make sure to make your dispute within 30 days of receiving your report.
Be prepared to take your time in disputing your report if there are a lot of items you find that need to be disputed. If you dispute everything or to many things at one time it may send a red flag to the agency and your claim can seem unrealistic. Remember you want to learn how to fix your credit not make it worse. That being said the agencies are required to remove any information that is deemed to be inaccurate within 30 days of receiving your dispute and you can in fact dispute any and everything in your report if you care to. There are many things that you can dispute that can affect your credit score:
• Reported late payments that were in fact paid on time
• Most negative items that are over seven years old
• Incorrect loan amounts or balances
• Credit accounts that are not yours
• Incorrect information such as length of time of address or job information
• Incomplete information
• Information that can’t be verified
If you have any proof to offer in your dispute you will most likely want to mail your dispute. Include copies of your proof (not the original documents) and a copy of your recent credit report. The credit reporting agency again has 30 days to investigate your dispute.
If you decide to make your dispute online be aware that you will not be mailed a copy of the agencies findings, but instead you will be able to view and or print the findings online. If you mail in proof after you start a dispute, then the agency has 45 days total instead of 30 days to respond to your dispute. If they do not complete or respond to your dispute within the allotted amount of time as previously stated, then you are entitled to have all disputed items removed from your report.
You can do a simple search online to find sample dispute letters to use as a guideline. Be sure to gather any proof of disputed items if needed and send them in. Only dispute items on your report that you believe are incorrect. Be persistent if you know that an entry is wrong. If necessary dispute an item again but give a different reason so that the agency won’t think that your disputes are being duplicated.
After the investigation is completed the agency will provide you with a new report if any changes have been made to your credit profile. Something else that you may want to do now is to have the credit agency send a notice of correction to anyone who requested access to your credit file in the past six months.
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