If you suffer from bad credit history, a possible cause is inaccurate information contained in your report.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute these errors.   Let’s discuss the steps you can do if you discover false information in your credit report.

Send a letter of dispute to the credit bureau that issued your report. 

An effective dispute letter must contain a clear explanation on the charges or details that you want to be corrected.  As much as possible, include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your claim.  It could be old receipts or correspondence from your creditor.  Also, it would help if you enclose a photocopy of your credit report with the items in dispute clearly marked or encircled. 

Send your dispute letter through registered mail.  You may need to wait up to 30 days for the matter to be resolved.  If the issue has been resolved, the credit bureau that issued your report will send you an updated version of your credit report for free.  The bureau will also alert the other 2 major bureaus about the corrected information.

You can request the credit bureau to send a notice of correction to lenders that have inquired your report in the past six months.  This way, lenders can re-consider your application since your low score may have been due to false charges.

If you don’t know how to write a dispute letter, check out sample dispute letters over the internet.  Nevertheless, use them only as a reference.  Never send the exact sample letter that you found online.  Some consumers only change the details.  Remember that credit bureaus receive hundreds of dispute letters each month.  If you want to get a response, your dispute letter should be clear and written in your own words.

What if the negative details in your credit report are accurate? 

If the charges are legitimate, you can’t erase them from your report.  The only way you can improve your history of bad credit is to pay your creditors.  If you’re having a hard time keeping up with your payments, the best way to deal with the problem is to negotiate with your creditors and request for easier repayment terms.

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