Steps To Dispute Your Credit

1. Identification of any credit report errors:

You can identify any credit report error by reviewing your credit report periodically for inaccurate or incomplete information. You can get free credit report from any resources like major credit bureaus etc.

Some common credit report errors that you may spot:

• Incorrect account balances
• A closed account still being reported as open
• Inaccurate credit limits
• A same debt listed multiple times
• Identification of mistakes such as incorrect name, phone number or address
• An account falsely linked to you due to identity theft
• An account listed multiple times with different creditors
• After reporting of us and account owner, when you are just an authorized user of an account.

An error on your credit report can affect you badly. As your credit report contains all kind of information’s about you, for example how you pay your bills and if you’ve ever filed for bankruptcy. Your credit report information is shared among all employers’ insurances utility companies and many other groups that want to verify your identification and evaluate your creditworthiness for a loan or a job.

• Contact the furnisher:

The next step you want to do is contact your furnisher, or the company that provided the incorrect information, which may be an entity like your bank or a utility company. You must verify their records and confirm the error. In some cases you may even be able to resolve the dispute at this point, otherwise contact the credit reporting bureau directly.

• Dispute the credit report’s error:

Under the fair credit reporting act, correction of any incorrect or incomplete information about you in a report needs to be done by both the credit reporting bureau and the company that reports the information about you to the credit bureau. They also need to accept disputes from consumers.

• Wait for investigation:

Investigation of the disputed items must be returned by credit reporting bureaus. This process usually takes less than 30 days. The relevant information is sent to the information provider, whoever reported the disputed item. The provided will then investigate dispute and report it back to the credit reporting bureau.

In case you are right and there is an error then three major credit bureaus are informed by the information provider so that the necessary correction of the information in your credit report is made.

Your claim can also rendered senseless by the credit bureau or the company that provide information. In this case, the investigation for your claim will not be carried out. They also notify you within five days that they have declined the investigation of your dispute in written notice.

• Following up after the investigation:

You can expect 2 things when I investigation is complete:

• The investigation results, in writing, from the credit reporting bureau.
• If there is a change in report then a free copy of your credit report should be provided.

You can also ask the credit bureaus notify the parties, who have seen your incorrect information, about the corrections. This includes:

• Anyone who has received your report in the last six months should be notified.
• Anyone who has received your report in the past two years should be sent a corrected copy of your report.

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