By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-09-26 02:33:17 | Word Count: 664
Every so often in your lifetime, you are going to want to make a major purchase such as a car or a home and unless you were born into serious money and have no need for banks or lending institutions, you will need to have a good credit score, just like everybody else. But do you know for sure what it is?
It is critical to know exactly what is on your credit report. You need to get a copy of each of the three major reporting agencies’ reports (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) and double check each and ever item reported. You are looking for several things:
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1. Are the charges yours? You would be surprised at how often someone has been the victim of identity theft and doesn’t even know it. You need to make sure each charge account or loan was opened by you, and that each and every charge was either made by you or someone authorized to use your account.
2. Are the charges out of date? The legal statute of limitations for charge-offs, collections, foreclosures, closed accounts, inquiries, repossessions and judgments is seven years. It may take longer for bankruptcies and will take longer for tax liens, whether state, local or federal.
3. Are the bad items correct? You might have paid something on time, and that is not reflected on your credit report. You might have paid an account off entirely, and it is not marked as such.
The next step is to write credit dispute letter. Credit help can come from professionals like those at Credit Elves in the form of good advice and dispute letter templates. These templates allow you to put in your name, address, account number, dates and contact information, and then lead you through the specific language needed to dispute an item with the credit reporting agency. Your key to write a credit dispute letter should have copies (not originals) attached of supporting documentation, with copies kept for your own records.
Once the agencies receive the letter, they have 30 days within which to investigate the claims, decide on a resolution, and notify you of their decision. If they agree with you, then make sure the item comes off your credit report by waiting for another 30 days, then ordering a new copy of the report. If it is still there, then write a credit dispute letter to the reporting agency demanding that it be removed. If the credit dispute letter does not result in a favorable decision for you, it might be wise to deal directly with your creditor to try to get the matter resolved.
You might ask to have the debt lowered, or get smaller payments that you can manage. Some creditors will write off the debts altogether. In any event, once the matter is resolved, be sure to follow up by requesting that the resolved matter is noted on your credit report. Be diligent about making copies of everything, and noting each contact with either a reporting agency or creditor, and your credit score will thank you.
