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21 Days to Rock Your Finances: Day 10- Dispute Credit Report Errors

21 Days to Rock Your Finances: Day 10- Dispute Credit Report Errors

 

Once you’ve obtained a copy of your report and reviewed for errors, highlight each error and get ready to contact each bureau in order to dispute the information.  Some of he errors may include listing a credit account twice, reporting an account as late or delinquent when in fact it is up to date, reporting an account as having a balance when it’s been paid off etc etc.  You may even find an account that doesn’t belong to you and in this case, you will need to take immediate action and freeze your account at each bureau.

How To Dispute Information From Each Credit Bureau

When disputing information from each of the credit bureaus, you will need to follow the procedures for each one as they are different. However, the plus is that they all allow you to dispute online, saving you time and money!  Keep in mind that if you need to send in supporting documentation, you will need to mail that information in to their respective physical addresses.

Equifax

 Start here.  Equifax requires that you obtain a copy of your credit report directly from their website so you will need to do that first before getting started with the dispute.  Yes, this is even if you’ve obtained a copy of this elsewhere.

Experian

Start here.  Experian requires the same as Equifax.  Get a copy of your report directly from Experian and follow their directions to initiate the dispute.

Transunion

Start here.  Rinse wash and repeat!

When the credit bureaus receive your request to dispute the information, they will contact your creditors on your behalf.  In most cases, the creditor has 30 days to respond and in some cases 45 days to verify the information as accurate based on the nature of your dispute.  If the creditor verifies the information as accurate then it will remain on your profile.  However, if they report the information as inaccurate then the bureau will remove the information from your report.

 

Resources

Planetfeedback

  • This is a site that doesn’t seem to be well known within the personal finance community but is a goldmine of credit dispute help and information. Planet-feedback gives you a direct line to creditors and companies by allowing you to plead your case to have information removed or have a situation resolved with the companies themselves. Try it out. Results are based on the strength of your letter and who reads it on the other end, but in credit dispute situations, most seem to get the desired result-deletion.

Why Chat Credit Confusion

  • This site is the holy grail of all credit sample letters and information on how to dispute judgements and get medical accounts off your report! Because everyone’s credit situations are so different, check this out to find sample letters to send to creditors to support your case.

Another alternative is to dispute credit errors by using a credit repair service.  After a consultation, they’ll be able to give you more insight into how best to dispute the errors in order to increase your scores.

 

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About the Author

GingerGirls Just Wanna Have Funds is a personal finance website dedicated to educating and empowering women in the area of personal finance. Our articles center on money management: making it, saving it and growing it which supports our theme: Breaking Financial Ceilings One Stiletto At A Time. We have been featured in Business Insider (contributor), Lifehacker, Consumerist, MSNBC, Essence, Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America and MSN Project Engage Web Series. I believe in a future where women can have financial freedom and choose the life they want to live by taking control of their finances. You only need to want it hard enough while letting go of limiting beliefs around money. Join me as I share tips that will help you light up your financial life and take control.View all posts by Ginger →

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(photo: essence.com) Today we tackle that holy grail we call credit.  Depending on who you talk to, we have to live with it but must learn to do without it.  Until you get to a point in your financial life where you can live on a No Credit Needed ...