By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-02-14 10:15:04 | Word Count: 664
Repairing your credit score can be a difficult process, and knowing where to begin is often half the battle. How do you know when it’s necessary to send a letter to repair your credit? How do you know which credit agency to send it to? Once you have all that information, what should be included in your letter?
Assuming you’ve already acquired your credit report from the three reporting agencies (Experian – www.experian.com; TransUnion LLC www.transunion.com; Equifax – www.equifax.com) you should go over them thoroughly. If you find an inconsistency, you need to send a letter to the reporting agency.
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Inconsistencies can happen in all areas of your report. That’s why it’s important to read everything carefully to make sure your credit report is the most accurate representation of your financial history. Make sure you recognize all the accounts on your credit report. If there’s one that isn’t familiar to you it can be an indication of fraud or identity theft. Verify all the accounts you’ve closed in the past are marked as such. They should be notated with something like “closed by consumer.” Make sure you don’t have any accounts marked with invalid late payments.
Also, check all the dates on the information within your credit report. Some things that are older than 7 years shouldn’t appear on it anymore and therefore shouldn’t be affecting your credit score. Any late payments, overdue child support, accounts sent to collections, and things like that should fall off your credit report after 7 years. Additionally, credit inquiries older than 2 years also shouldn’t appear on your report.
Even your personal information should be gone over with a fine toothed comb. Make sure the credit agency has an accurate idea of who you are. Verify your name, address, phone number, social security number, date of birth and any previous address you had. If any of that isn’t exactly right it can have an adverse affect on your credit score.
So, once you find a mistake, you need to notify the reporting agency in writing. Companies like Creditelves (www.creditelves.com) have templates and can assist you every step of the way to ensure the best possible outcome. Their templates help you know exactly what to include in your letter: specific details regarding the suspected error, any proof you may have that demonstrates a mistake has occurred, and all your personal information regarding the account in question. You need to repeat this process for each individual mistake on your report.
The reporting agency then has 30 days to respond to your letter after they receive it. If they don’t rule in your favor, you have the option of trying again, contacting the original creditor, or inserting a statement on your actual report about the offending entry.
If they do rule in your favor they will remove the mistake, or amend your report to reflect that a mistake was made. Once they do this, it’s your responsibility to follow up and make sure the other agencies receive this information and properly implement it so your credit score is no longer affected by the error.
For more information on using letters to repair your credit, visit www.creditelves.com.
