Disputing Errors in Your Credit Report
Often your credit report comes with a form for disputing errors by mail (if you ordered it by mail) or instructions for going through the credit report disputing process online.
It is worth your while to try and dispute any errors. Credit bureaus are required by law (The Fair Credit Act of 2003) to investigate any mistake you bring to their attention and report back to you within thirty days.
Typically the credit bureau investigates the complaint by asking the creditor that reported the original information about the account to check its records. If the creditor can’t vouch for the accuracy of what it reported or doesn’t respond to the credit bureau’s request then the offending item is deleted from your report.
Unfortunately once the item is removed it can sometimes magically reappear on your credit report a few weeks or months later. Some creditors need revenge and persist on reporting inaccurate information as they may not really believe that you are not responsible for the debt or because they resent you getting out of the debt in the first place.
Sometimes wrong information you have just had removed pops up on your credit report again because the credit bureau just didn’t bother to update their databases and the erroneous information is automatically added to the credit file. Sometimes a creditor just reports it again and again out of perversity.
The non-negotiable facto of life in this situation is that the creditor really does hold a lot of power in the credit correction process. Although many errors are fixed permanently and promptly, there are still many unethical or indifferent creditors out there could make your life difficult by ignoring the request to fix the information. The worst thing these lenders do is verified that even the incorrect information is accurate.
One way to pacify the lender is of course to pay them but first make a proposal that you will do so if they remover negative comments from your credit report regarding the debt.
Here is an example of a Letter of Agreement to Settle A Debt.
A Letter of Agreement to Settle A Debt
Name of Business or lender
Address
City, state zip code
Re: Your name – Account Number
Dear Sir or Madam,
I hereby propose that in return for the payment on or before (proposed date) of $(amount of settlement offer) that any and all debts that I may have to you may be discharged and that you accept this payment as payment in full of any and all debts I may have to you.
As a further condition of this settlement proposal, you hereby agree to notify all credit reporting agencies to which you report that the account is “paid as agreed†and that you will inform all of the credit reporting agencies to delete any references on any credit reports that indicate that the account is or ever was late. This agreement shall be binding upon all the parties and their successors and assigns.
I am enclosing two copies of this letter. If you accept this settlement proposal please sign where indicated and return copy of this contract to me to send to the credit bureaus. This offer shall remain open until (latest date for settlement of debt.)
Sincerely,
Your name.
I hereby agree to the terms of the above agreement
Name of Business
Signature: _____________________________
If the problem on your credit report is about the removal of a credit inquiry that you didn’t make then here is a sample of the kind of letter you need to write to get it removed.
Letter Requesting Removal Of Credit Inquiry From A Credit Report
Name of business
Address
City, state zip code
Re: Name – Social Security Number – unauthorized credit inquiry.
Dear Sir or Madam,
Upon reviewing my credit report prepared by (name of credit reporting agency) I found a credit inquiry by you indicated on my credit report that was not authorized by me.
As you may know, requesting my credit report and correspondingly having an inquiry noted on my report without my authorization is improper. Not only this but it can have a negative impact on my credit score.
I therefore request that you promptly notify (name of credit reporting agency) and have the credit inquiry removed. Please forward a letter of confirmation to me as to the time and date when this is done.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
If you have any questions you may contact me by telephone at (insert telephone number) or by email at (insert email address.)
Sincerely,
Your name
If you have found errors anywhere else in this account then you can also use this letter to encourage the credit bureaus to get it removed.
Letter Disputing Information Contained on Credit Report
Complaint Department
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
OR
Transunion
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
OR
Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013
Re: Your name --- Social Security number
Dear Sir or Madam,
I hereby dispute the following indicated information improperly contained in my credit report. I have highlighted the disputed items on a copy of my credit report that is included with this letter.
Specifically these items are improper because --
(In a list form itemize each disputed notation and the reasons why the information is erroneous, incomplete, dated, or inaccurate.)
I am enclosing the following copies of documentation in support of my request for this information to be removed
(In a list form itemize the documents that you are providing as support for your claims.)
In accordance with my rights under FACT, I request that you investigate this matter and promptly correct y report.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
You may reach me by telephone at (insert telephone number) or at my email address – (insert email address.)
Sincerely,
Your Name
By law the credit bureaus are supposed to send you back a response to your letter within 30 days. All three are good at that but what they are not good at is actually fixing the problem.
The sad truth is that all three of the bureaus have a bad habit of acknowledging your request within the 30 days required by law and then doing nothing about changing your score.
If that happens you may need to send them a follow-up letter.
Follow Up Letter to a Reporting Agency
Complaint Department
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
OR
Transunion
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
OR
Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013
Re: Your name --- Social Security number
Dispute letter of (date of original letter)
Dear Sir or Madam,
On (date of original dispute letter) I sent you a letter notifying you of improper information appearing in my credit report in violation of FACT. This letter was sent to you by certified mail, return receipt requested and was received by you on (date of receipt.) I am enclosing a copy of my letter and a copy of the return receipt indicating receipt of said letter.
Your failure to respond to my demand for correction of my credit report within thirty days is a violation of FACT. If I do not receive an appropriate response to my original demand letter within ten days of the date of this letter, I may without further notice, report your failure to abide by FACT to the Federal Trade Commission or take other appropriate action.
You may reach me by telephone at (insert telephone number) or at my email address – (insert email address.)
Sincerely,
Your Name
If you are successful in getting errors removed from your report you may or may not notice an immediate improvement in your credit scored. The removal of the information sometimes has little effect and the score hovers in the region of the same three digits.
Although removing negative items from your credit report is one thing, there are other proactive measures that you can do to make sure that your credit score is as perfect as it can be that will be clarified further in this chapter.