If you want to dispute errors in your credit report, you can do so thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) 1970. All you need to do is write a credit dispute letter and the credit bureaus are required to either remove the incorrect entry or prove that it is correct. Your dispute letter should be well-worded and sent via registered mail to either of the credit bureaus or to all of them. Remember to save a copy of this letter and the postal receipt to provide proofs that you have indeed written to the credit bureau. You also need to include a copy of your credit report with the incorrect details circled.
Developing the art of writing credit dispute letters is a must if you want to get the best credit score. Any incorrect, unverifiable, misleading, or outdated detail in your credit report can damage your credit score in ways unimaginable, and this will in turn hurt your chances of getting higher credit limits or loans and mortgages at lower rates of interest. You need to protect your credit history and see that it is free of errors to ensure that your employers, creditors, insurance companies, and other organizations get the correct picture of your financial status when they check out your credit report.
The credit dispute letter that you send to the credit bureau should be short and to the point. You should come to the point quickly and tell the bureau exactly what part of your credit report requires correction. If you write such a precise and clear-cut letter, the credit bureau can easily verify the legitimacy of your dispute and make the required changes as quickly as possible. Avoid copying examples of credit dispute letters found online; however, you can modify them so that they apply to your particular situation.
Here are some more tips to help you write a good credit dispute letter to correct credit report errors. First, go through your credit report carefully and make a comprehensive list of each and every detail that needs to be either removed or corrected. Once you have this essential information, write your credit dispute letter and send it to all the three credit bureaus. Write a separate dispute letter for each bit of erroneous data you wish to dispute.
You need not be afraid if the credit bureaus state that your dispute is irrelevant or illegal because credit bureaus are prevented by law from stating so. When they receive a dispute letter, they are supposed to consider the dispute letter to be legitimate or provide clear proof that it is not.
Credit bureaus usually take anywhere from 15 days to 30 days to respond to a dispute letter. They might take another month to investigate the dispute and make the required corrections, after which they will send you a new credit report.
A short, well-formatted, and well-worded credit dispute letter not only serves to correct credit report errors, but can also be used to keep collection agencies away.