Before you set up a plan on how to dispute credit report errors, it's important to mention that No one can legally remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report. The law allows you to ask for an investigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete. There is no fee for the investigation and It doesn't cost anything to question or dispute items in your report.

If you were recently denied credit because of information in your credit report, you have the right to request a free copy. Otherwise there is a small fee, unless your state law provides for one free report a year.

Considering the cost of bad credit, it just makes good sense to dispute and correct all negative entries in your credit report. You can either complete the dispute form provided with your credit report or write a dispute letter.

The major credit bureaus are:

Equifax, 800-685-1111, www.equifax.com;

Experian, 800-682-7654, www.experian.com; and

TransUnion, 800-916-8800, www.transunion.com.

Contact all three, as the information each has may vary.

Steps

Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information you think is inaccurate. It's recommended that you send a photocopy of your credit report with the mistakes circled. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each mistake in your report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request that it be removed or corrected.

Sending your dispute letter by Registered or Certified Mail greatly increases your chance of a response and also helps you document what the credit bureau received. Keep a record of when you sent the dispute letters and what date you should expect a response. This is very important because it gives you some leverage with the credit reporting companies in case they don't respond in the time frame required by law. Keep a record of when you sent the dispute letters and what date you should expect a response. If you have not received an answer to your dispute after 30 to 37 days, write the credit bureau with a certified return receipt letter, for an updated credit report demanding the disputed items be deleted. If the bureaus do not reply within the 30 days, it must be that the information was either inaccurate, or it could not be verified. In either case, according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the items must be immediately deleted.

Consumers have found it possible to eliminate negative marks on credit reports simply by going through this process of disputing items over and over again. Since many creditors won't take the time to defend the negative item, eventually you can "repair" your credit through default by your creditor not responding to the credit bureaus request to verify the item. This commonly occurs. The creditors do not always have time to deal with a bothersome piece of paperwork and that is your advantage.

"Everything a credit repair clinic can do for you legally, you can do for yourself at little or no cost. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)"

Tips

1) Do not use the online disputing service provided by the credit bureaus. Record keeping and documentation is very important when it comes to credit repair. The credit bureaus online disputing service will not provide the kind of record you need for your disputes.

2) The credit bureau recommends you call or write them with your dispute. Calling the credit bureau with your dispute is something you never want to do, simply because you need to keep accurate time-stamped records during your dispute process.

If the credit reporting agency does not find an error, but you still believe your credit report is inaccurate, you can contact the creditor directly and try to straighten out the problem. When you resolve the dispute, ask the creditor to send a correction to the credit reporting agency.

Research has shown that certain items are easier to remove than others.

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Easier items to dispute and have removed

Items older than 2 years
Discharged bankruptcies
Charge-offs
Inquiries
Repossessions
Late payments
Accounts that were late but are now paid off

The reason these items are easier to remove is simple; when you dispute an older account or an item that is now charged off, the creditor is not too concerned with the account any more. They may not even be able to find the necessary information to verify the dispute. Even if the account was once seriously past due, but now is paid off, they usually will not take the time to verify the dispute since they have already been paid.

More Difficult Items To Dispute And Have Removed

Accounts that are currently past due
Recent Bankruptcies
Judgments
IRS or State Tax Liens
Current collection accounts

These are more difficult because creditors keep these types of accounts in their current files and they are expecting you to pay them. That is why it will be much easier for them to verify the information and keep the item on your credit file. However, it is always worth a try.

Important: It is completely legal for you to dispute items on your credit file even if you know they are correct. You are simply testing to see if your creditors have maintained the proper records to verify the dispute. You have a very bad memory and forgot that the negative accounts on your credit file are really yours.

Federal Laws require that the Credit Bureaus verify all disputes. If they are unable to verify your dispute, the law says it must be removed from your file.

What the Credit Bureaus Don't Tell You

Each item on your credit report must be proven or it cannot remain in the report. If the credit bureau cannot verify the item when investigated, it must be removed from your file whether or not it's true.

Every negative entry on your report can be denied or challenged at any time. The bureau must reinvestigate and if that item cannot be verified within a "reasonable amount of time", it must be removed from the file.

Items when challenged can be mistakenly erased. Consumers say they often experience computer operator mistakes.

Many times the creditor does not re-verify in time or the credit bureau is busy and does not handle your dispute properly. It must then be deleted.

The older an item, the more difficult re-verification is. It is possible it cannot be verified because records may no longer exist after 1 or 2 years.

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