How to Resolve Credit Reporting Disputes

Your credit score and credit report are important because bad credit can cause keep a person from getting a personal loan, a mortgage, a job or even an apartment. Mistakes on your credit report can lower your credit score, so it's important that you eliminate the mistakes. The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that the credit reporting agency is responsible for making right any credit reporting disputes. Here are the basic steps to use to resolve credit reporting disputes on your own.

Instructions

1

Request your credit report from all credit reporting agencies. In order to dispute a problem, you will need to have your credit report to show the mistakes. Every person should get a copy of her credit report each year. If you don't have a current copy, you can go to AnnualCreditReport.com to receive a free copy of your credit report from each of the reporting agencies.

2

Write a dispute letter to the reporting bureau about any discrepancies. This should include your address, full name and a list of all the disputes that you are making. Include a copy of your credit report with problem areas circled. Once the credit reporting company receives your letter, it has 30 days to investigate the problem and then report back to you. If it finds that there has been an error, the bureau is obligated to correct its report and notify the other credit reporting bureaus as well.

3

As you resolve credit reporting disputes, create a file and keep a copy of every piece of correspondence with the credit reporting agency. Keep the credit report you have a problem with, a copy of your letter of dispute and a copy of anything the company sends back to you. Sending any correspondence by certified mail is an excellent idea as well, allowing you to have a tracking number of the mail that you sent.

4

Going straight to the creditor is another option toward resolving credit reporting disputes. This also requires a written list of disputes. The creditor can tell you where to send your dispute letter. If the creditor determines there is an error, it will contact the credit reporting bureaus to fix the problem and will also notify you. However, this is not always the best course of action, since creditors are not held to laws that require them to get back with you in a specific amount of time. Some people have tried this method of disputing a problem only to never hear back from the creditor.