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Repair Credit
Making Corrections to a Credit Report |
The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right
to dispute all incorrect, out-of-date, and adverse information in your credit report.
Although credit bureaus (by law) are required to promptly respond to consumer complaints,
correcting errors in your report may actually take several weeks or months of
correspondence.
Potential Errors
Pay attention to the following information in your credit report. Some of it is likely to
be incorrect.
- Incorrect Social Security number.
- Incorrect name, address, phone number, or birth
date.
- Credit inquiries that are older than two years.
- Incorrect credit histories -- notation that you've
made a late payment when in fact you haven't.
- Incorrect marital status.
- Accounts you've closed that are still listed as
open.
- Credit and payment history of someone whose name is
similar to yours.
- Lawsuits or court judgements you were not involved
in.
Correcting Mistakes
If you find mistakes after reviewing your credit report, you should send a letter via certified mail to the
credit bureau that issued the report. It should list each inaccuracy in detail and
identify the corrective action that should be taken. Once the credit bureau receives your
letter, it has 30 days (by law) to investigate your dispute and respond. If you don't get
a response after 30 days, send a follow-up letter with the same information and request.
After the credit bureau reviews your dispute, two things will happen. If you're right or
the bureau can't verify the data, the credit bureau will have to remove the inaccurate
information from your credit report. If the credit bureau still believes their information
is correct, you may want to call or visit the bureau in person to discuss your complaint.
The other alternative is to contact the creditor directly and ask that they remove the
information or send a letter to the bureaus detailing the error. If they agree, you should
follow up with a letter to all three credit bureaus outlining the changes that have been
made.
If you still disagree with your credit report, you're entitled to submit a 100 word
statement summarizing your position in the particular dispute. Anyone making an inquiry
into your report will see this statement and get to hear your side of the story.
If a credit bureau has not responded to your request in a manner consistent with the Fair
Credit Reporting Act, you should contact the Federal Trade Commission in Washington D.C.
at 1-202-FTC-HELP for assistance.
Credit and Debt Calculators:
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Spending? |
