When it comes to repairing bad credit, you will find that it is a common occurrence for bad credit labels to be placed erroneously on your credit reports which need to be disputed. These items weigh down your credit score which keeps you from getting good loans as well as costing you hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest charges and fees. Therefore, an understanding of how to effectively dispute such negative items is essential in the credit repair process.
Types of Items to Dispute
As you review copies of your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus, you may find many typographical errors or outdated information. Misspellings of names or streets, outdated residence or employer addresses, etc are not disputable, but should be corrected by sending documentation containing the correct or updated information.
Disputable items which you should look for are negative labels such as:
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Late payments which were not actually late. Send copies of cancelled checks or other documentation verifying your claim.
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Unauthorized credit history inquiries – Every time you apply for credit via a bank loan, credit card application, etc, a copy of your credit report is requested from the credit bureau by the institution. However, sometimes your credit report is requested in error and should be challenged. Applying for credit too often in a short period of time hurts your credit rating.
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Unchanged or Unremoved Credit Items – Creditors and collection agencies often fail to change your status to better credit labels such as “paid” or “settled”. They also routinely fail to remove items from your credit report as promised during negotiations such as “late payments”, “charge-offs”, etc.
How to Dispute Bad Credit Items
Once you’ve made a list of items which should be disputed on your credit report, you will need to write a Letter of Dispute to the credit bureaus which contain errors. If the error shows up on your credit report from all three bureaus then you only need write one letter as the affected bureau will notify the other two of the dispute result.
Once the credit bureau receives your dispute letter, they will notify the affected creditor who will have 30 days to validate the information which they’ve placed on your credit report. If they cannot or do not then the disputed item must be removed. The credit bureau should then send you a letter advising you of the outcome. It is always best to order another copy of your credit report to verify that that any disputed items have been removed.
Should you need assistance or run into problems when dealing with credit bureaus, contact Repair-Credit-Today.com for professional legal assistance.