By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-01-05 17:55:04 | Word Count: 664
Contacting one of the three credit bureaus can seem like a daunting task, but take heart. It’s not as hard as it may seem. Their addresses are:
Experian
P.O. Box 2002
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Allen, TX 75013
www.experian.com
TransUnion
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
www.transunion.com
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
www.equifax.com
There are two main reasons you may want to contact the various credit bureaus. One is to request a credit report. Knowing your credit score is vital to helping maintain good credit and taking steps to improve bad credit. The other reason is to dispute information within your credit report.
Sometimes removing negative credit or incorrect information from your credit report is the simplest and fastest way to improve your score. You just need to send a separate letter for each entry you want amended to the reporting agency. Using a company like Creditelves can often make this process easier and more effective. Creditelves has been helping people improve their credit scores by contacting the various credit bureaus for years. They know what specific information needs to be included in your letter to make it as effective as possible at resolving your dispute. Creditelves will help you compile all your personal information, details about the entry you want removed, and any proof you may have if a mistake has occurred. They will leave you with a professional letter that will help improve your chances of raising your credit score using this method.
Be sure to send the letter to the credit agency via certified mail. That way you know exactly what day it was received. The agency has 30 days to respond to your letter, which starts as soon as they get it. The process then goes to the creditor responsible for the entry in question. If they fail to let the credit reporting agency know how to handle the dispute within the 30 day period, the entry is automatically removed from your credit report, along with any negative points it may have contributed to your credit score. That’s why it’s sometimes helpful to dispute a late payment, even if it’s accurately documented on your credit report. It’s sort of like fighting a traffic citation with the hopes that the officer doesn’t show up in court so that your ticket is automatically overturned.
If the credit agency does decide to remove the entry, you need to follow up with them to make sure they actually do. They will also need to notify the other bureaus so the mistake is not repeated throughout the various credit reports. This should have a positive trickledown effect on your overall credit score. Make sure you request a second credit report to verify all this has taken place.
If they don’t rule in your favor, you still have some options. You can:
* Send another letter with more information and details about your claim, hoping to sway them. Sometimes repeated attempts are necessary to make positive progress but are worth it in the end.
* Contact the original creditor to see if they will remove the entry themselves. If the entry is a late payment, they may be willing to work with you, especially if you’ve been a loyal customer.
* Insert a statement directly to your credit report clearing up the entry in question. While this most likely won’t directly affect your credit score, it will help anyone performing a credit inquiry see what the deal is.
For more information on the addresses to credit bureaus and contacting them, please visit www.creditelves.com.
