Online Credit Repair

The Right Way to File a Credit Report Dispute

March 10th, 2009

Everyone knows that what’s on your credit report is very important. Your credit score is your ticket to how much money creditors will lend you for items you’ve always dreamed off, including your home or car.
But what if you look on your credit report, and you find negative items that do not belong to you? This is extremely problematic because negative items affect your credit score – your lifeline to credit. When you realize that your credit report has negative items on it, you must start a credit dispute.
There are three credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. Your credit report at these agencies contains data including your payment history, debt total, and available credit. But, each credit bureau keeps its own unique information about you. This means that you might dispute credit with one agency, but not the other.
When you see a negative mark on your credit report, you must then determine if you have a basis to begin a credit dispute. Some reasons may include: the account does not belong to you, the item is out-of-date, you were never late, you agreed to an alternative payment plan, the account was sold in violation of the contract, the balance is wrong, etc.
How do you actually dispute a credit report? Well, it’s becoming more common to have the ability to dispute credit report errors online. At this time, the three top credit bureaus –Equifax, Experian and TransUnion— all allow consumers to easily dispute credit right on the website. Consumers can easily track the stage of the investigation process, and hear back a lot sooner from the agency about the outcome. Some agencies, however, still require a written letter for an investigation request.
When you dispute a credit report, an investigation begins to see if your claim is correct. The agency contacts your creditor and asks them if you are telling the truth. Most the time, the creditor will say that your dispute can be resolved and the error will be wiped clean off your record.
But, sometimes, creditors can be hard to deal with, and they will not give the agency permission to release the error. In this case, you have two choices: You can call the creditor directly and prove that you are correct and they should allow the credit dispute to be approved. Or, you can hire a credit repair firm, who will act on your behalf to complete the credit dispute.
Many clients have found that hiring a credit repair attorney is a breath of fresh air. One client says, ““After seeing what the credit attorney was able to do with my credit after only a few months, it is very reassuring. I’d like to thank them for everything that they are doing for me and express my appreciation for all of the hard work.”
No matter what happens, one thing is for sure: Beginning a credit dispute is hard work. But after you complete your credit dispute, it’s worth it!

Entry Filed under: Credit Repair Law Firms