By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-02-23 11:43:03 | Word Count: 664
Correcting an error on your credit report requires patience, diligence and follow-through to help improve your credit score, and make sure your score accurately reflects your financial history.
Finding an error on your credit report is a project all on its own. First, you must acquire all the appropriate information from the three major agencies: Experian (www.experian.com), TransUnion LLC (www.transunion.com) and Equifax (www.equifax.com). You can get all this information from www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228.
[ advertisement ]
Once you have each of the reports from these agencies, go over them carefully. Pay close attention to your information. Is everything accurate? Things like accounts you’ve closed should be marked “closed by consumer” or something to that effect. Accounts you’ve closed in the past should not appear to be open on your credit report. Having too many open accounts can have a negative impact on your credit score, so be sure to watch for stuff like that.
Also, monitor the way late payments were documented on the reports. Any late payments that are older than 7 years shouldn’t appear on the reports any longer. Also, make sure there aren’t any accounts that were mistakenly marked as paid late. These factors can also negatively affect your credit score.
In fact, accurate information that’s old also shouldn’t be on your report at all anymore. If it is it will reflect poorly on your credit score. Things like accounts sent to collections, overdue child support, late payments, and anything like that that’s older than 7 years should not be on your credit report anymore. Neither should credit inquiries older than 2 years be reflected on your credit report.
Should you find an error, the next step is to compose a letter for credit dispute. Companies like Creditelves can help you with this process and make it a bit more bearable. They provide templates that will plug in pertinent information regarding your unique dispute. Things like your personal information, details regarding the specific mistake, and proof that an error has occurred are all important to give to the agency and are included in Creditelves’s templates.
The appropriate agency will then look into your dispute and has 30 days after they receive your letter to provide you with a written response. If they decide you were right and a mistake has occurred, they will either amend your credit report or remove the mistake entirely. If they rule against you, you have the right to add your own statement to your credit report regarding the perceived mistake.
If the agency does rule in your favor, it’s their responsibility to notify credit agencies so the correction is reflected on your credit report, and ultimately your credit score. You have the right to request another credit report after this change has had a chance to appear, and you should do so. This will ensure all the agencies have been appropriately notified and your score is as accurate as possible.
The professionals at Creditelves can help with the process of drafting a letter for credit dispute to help you achieve the best possible outcome when disputing an inaccuracy on your credit report. Visit them at www.creditelves.com today to get started.
