A credit report is a compilation of how you have handled your financial accounts. This report is is associated with a credit score. The credit score is a three-digit number ranging from 350 to 850. Creditors will often review your credit report and score when evaluating you for potential credit. Credit reports should be reviewed periodically to ensure accuracy. It is your legal right to dispute any errors you find on your credit report.
Who Gives Me the Legal Right?
The Federal Trade Commission enforces the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA offers consumers the right to access credit reports and to dispute credit report errors to maintain an accurate credit report.
What Happens in a Credit Dispute?
A consumer can dispute any error found in his credit report. Creditors must respond to a consumers dispute by updating, verifying or correcting information reported to the credit bureaus in a timely manner. If a creditor fails to respond to a consumer's request, the credit bureau must delete the entire account. When disputing any item on your credit report, you must be prepared to lose the entire account. While this may be beneficial to your credit score if the account is a negative account, it may hurt your credit score if the account is a positive account and you lose that entire record. Be very careful when disputing any part of a positive account. Correcting an incorrect balance may not be worth potentially losing the entire account.
How Do I Dispute Incorrect Information?
Your credit report will have a dispute address shown. Send a letter to this address, and provide your name, address and last four digits of your Social Security number. List each item that is incorrect. Provide the name of the creditor, the amount and any portion of the account number shown on the credit report. Give a brief explanation as to what the error is and send the letter. All three credit bureaus also offer the option of calling in to the credit bureau and disputing online (see Resources).
How Long Does a Credit Dispute Take?
The FCRA allows the credit bureaus 30 days to investigate your dispute. This 30-day period starts on the day the credit bureau receives the request. The credit bureau will send you a report of the investigation. The report will show whether the account was updated, verified or deleted.
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