Credit report is a summary containing the financial past of any individual and serves as a reference for credit companies when deciding whether or not to lend money to new clients. This why it is very important for the information within the report to be up-to-date and accurate. Any kind of discrepancies could mean the difference between an accepted and an outright rejection.
Individuals have free access to their own credit report by law and they are advised to review it once a year in order to be sure that the contained information is correct. Because all the recorded information is introduced by data entry personnel, discrepancies are inevitable, and if left uncorrected, they’ll continue to show up in future report.
In case that you notice any false information listed about your financial history, you have the option to file a credit report dispute. When doing so, you make sure that the credit bureaus will correct the mistakes as obliged by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Sample of Credit Report Dispute Letter
Date
Your Name
Your Address, City, State, Zip Code
Complaint Department
Name of Company
Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear Sir or Madam,
I recently obtained a copy of my credit report from your agency and found the following item to be in error:
Item 1: I dispute ABC credit card account number 123456789. This account has been paid in full.
I am requesting that the item be (removed, updated, or other suggested change) to correct the information.
Enclosed are copies of (use this statement if you have bank statements, cancelled checks, or other documentation) supporting my position. Please reinvestigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Enclosures: (List the documents you are enclosing. If none, do not include this section)
Source: http://credit.about.com.
How to Dispute Credit Report Error?
While you dispute credit report error, you have to stipulate all of your claims in writing and to describe them with as much detail as possible in order for the mistake to be quickly found and fixed. It would also greatly help you to add any documents, that can prove your claims such as receipts, tickets, notes, invoices etc. In the end, don’t forget to make copies of everything you noted plus all the other documents you attached to your dispute letter.
After you file your credit report dispute, an investigation will begin and your claims will get assessed in order for their validity to be proved — usually within 30 days. If after the investigation has taken place, your claims will be proven true, then any inaccurate information specified in your dispute letter will be mended which will eventually be reflected in higher score.
If you need additional reading, here’s a good article by FTC on how to dispute credit report.
Bear in mind that although by law, you’re entitled to receive a free copy of your credit report annually from any of the 3 credit reporting bureaus, this free report will not reveal your actual credit score. To view the actual score that the lenders are seeing, get your score (plus 3 in 1 credit report) from freecreditscore.com for a free trial.