Ever discovered inaccurate information on your credit report? Though some errors aren’t too detrimental, others can go as far as affecting your credit score. So, it is essential that any credit report errors be disputed
In the article below we’ll go in-depth on how to dispute your credit report. So, keep reading!
How Does Disputing Impact Your Credit
Filing a dispute has no real direct impact on your credit scores however once the dispute is over, the changes need your credit report could affect your credit scores. If paying off debt is a struggle, know that you can better your credit score through a debt relief program. Debt settlement programs offer you credit card debt relief.
The effect on your credit score will depend on what ever you are disputing and the outcome of the dispute. Removal of information that is detrimental to your credit score such as late payments etc can lead to improvements on your credit score.
How To Dispute A Credit Report Error
After identifying the errors on your credit report proceed with disputing the information with the credit reporting company. Explain thoroughly in writing the errors that you’ve noticed and make sure to include documents that support your dispute.
Your dispute letter should include the following information:
- Your contact information such as your name address and your cell phone number.
- Your report confirmation number if it’s available to you.
- The errors clearly identified. You could add an account number for any account that you may be disputing.
- A thorough explanation of why you are disputing the information.
- Request for the information to be corrected or removed.
- Enclose a copy of the part of your credit report that contains the errors. Highlight the air is in dispute. Include copies of the documents in support of your dispute.
You can send your letter by certified mail, however, you do have to make sure that you get a receipt in return that you can keep as record that your letter was received. Other options of contacting the credit reporting companies are email or phone.
Proceedings After You Send Your Dispute
Upon receiving your dispute letter, the credit reporting companies will investigate your dispute and forward all your documents to the furnisher. There after they’ll report back to you with the results, unless your claim is frivolous.
If it is determined that your dispute is frivolous, the credit reporting company or the furnisher may choose not to investigate your dispute. They do, however, have to send you a notice within 5 days indicating what they have determined.
If the furnisher corrects your information following the dispute, it must notify all credit reporting companies that received the inaccurate information. These credit reporting companies should then update their reports with the new information.
The Furnisher may also determine that the information is actually accurate and doesn’t need correcting. If it is so, you can request the credit reporting company to include a statement explaining the dispute within your credit file. This will be included in all future reports and will be given to anyone who requests your credit report.
Steps To Take If You Disagree With The Outcome Of Your Dispute
It could happen that the outcome you receive is not what you expected. In this case you can take further steps to have your point heard.
Here are the steps below
- Contact the entity that provided the incorrect information to the credit reporting company. You will need to provide information that supports that their information is incorrect. This entity may be the financial institution that offered you a loan or credit , or the lender.
- Add a statement of dispute to your credit report. This further explains your opinion on the information in your credit report.
- If through this process you’ve been able to find out new valuable information, file another dispute and see what outcome you receive this time.
That covers how to dispute your credit report. We hope you found the above information helpful. Don’t ignore inaccurate information in your credit report when you can do something about it.
