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Dispute It: What To do If You Find An Error On Your Credit Report

Credit agencies are managed and ran by humans, and from time to time, humans have been known to make mistakes. This leaves the door wide open for there to be mistakes on your credit report. I am not saying there is, I am just saying there could be. In order to protect yourself and your credit standing, it is recommended that you review your credit report once every 90 days.

When you review your credit report, you may come across some information that just does not add up. When you do, you should record this information on a separate piece of paper. Some things to look for include: accounts that are not yours, accounts entered more than once, payments recorded as late when they were on time, discrepancies in amount owed, etc. If you have any questions about anything, write it down.

Your first instinct when you find something that you do not understand on your credit report is to panic. Your mind is filled with dark scenarios where someone stole your identity and is living the good life in a tropical paradise. Before you panic and send off a 10-page letter to the credit bureau, take a moment to review each account in question.

Sometimes accounts that appear out of place are actually legitimate. Take for instance collection accounts. Often, these accounts will appear under different names as the debt has been sold by the original creditor. For entries that you do not recognize, you should use the contact information provided. Call the company and ask who the original creditor was. Ask when the account was opened, at what branch, etc. This might clear up any questions that you have.

If it does not, you will need to contact the credit bureau by mail. Instead of writing a book, though, you should only send a brief explanation of why you think the account should not be on your credit report. Popular complaints include: I was not late, this is not my account, this is more than 7 years old, this collection was reported in error and so on. Keep this letter brief. Your purpose is only to bring the discrepancy to the credit bureaus attention. They will then contact the creditor and ask for verification of the debt. All you need to do is wait.

In most cases, erroneous entries will be removed at this stage. If not, you will have to contact the original creditor. Be sure to keep any correspondence from the creditor as you will need to send this to the credit bureau once your investigation is done. Keep in mind that creditors must respond to your requests within a limited amount of time. If they do not or if they fail to validate your debt, you can have the negative information removed from your credit report; you can also sue them for damages.

If you find an error on your report, there is no reason to sit back and do nothing. Your credit standing is at stake, and there are avenues that you can use to get information removed from your report. Take advantage of them. If you find it all confusing you should consider hiring a professional credit restoration company.

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