Your Credit Score Part 4 Disputing Errors On the Credit Report

Disputing Errors On the Credit Report

If you are in the process of reviewing your credit reports, the first thing to do is make sure that the information contained within the reports is correct. In June 2004, The U.S. Public Interest Research Group published the results of a survey it conducted involving 200 adults in 30 states to test the validity of credit reporting. Their findings were as follows.

Twenty-five percent (25%) of the credit reports contained errors serious enough to result in the denial of credit;

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of the credit reports contained mistakes of some kind;

Fifty-four percent (54%) of the credit reports contained personal demographic information that was misspelled, long-outdated, belonged to a stranger, or was otherwise incorrect;

Thirty percent (30%) of the credit reports contained credit accounts that had been closed by the consumer but incorrectly remained listed as open.

SOURCE: U.S. Public Interest Group Research; One In Four Credit Reports Contains Errors Serious Enough To Wreak Havoc For Consumers, US PIRG Press release, 06/17/04 http://uspirg.org/uspirgnewsroom.asp?id2=13650om

If you find that you have errors on your credit report, follow this procedure to correct those errors.

1. Make a copy of the report and circle the items you are questioning. Keep your original copy for your own records.

2. Prepare a letter to the CRA that provided you with the report in question, and request to have the erroneous item(s) removed. If you have proof of payment for an item in question, include a copy of that documentation.

3. Prepare a letter to the creditor reporting the problem, especially if you feel you are a victim of fraud or identity theft. Inform the creditor that you are disputing an error reported to the CRA, state why the claim is inaccurate, and include any relevant documentation to prove your point.

4. Send your correspondence via certified mail.

You should receive a response from the CRA within 30 to 45 days. If the error has been corrected, they will send you a fresh copy of your credit report at no charge to show you that the item has been removed. They will also send a corrected report to any entity that received a report that contained errors within the last six months. If you cannot have a disputed item removed, you have the right to include your side of the story on the credit report. Your statement should be a concise explanation (100 words or less) as to why you are challenging the item in question. From that point on, this notation will be included in your credit report as long as the item in question remains on your report.

Credit Remediation

If you feel you would prefer to work with a credit repair service rather than try to tackle credit repair issues on your own, please give us a call so we can help you sort through your options. We will do our best to refer you to a reputable credit remediation service and guide you in the right direction once we have the opportunity to review your credit report with you.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates credit repair services and provides free information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid doing business with credit repair companies that are not reputable. Their web site is located at http://www.ftc.gov/

You can also write to the FTC to request a copy of their free brochure titled Credit Repair: Self Help May Be Best, which includes information about credit clinics. The address to write to is:

If you have any complaints regarding your credit report or credit remediation services that you wish to report to the FTC, contact them at:

Federal Trade Commission
Sixth and Pennsylvania Avenues
NW Washington, DC 20004

Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center, Room 130
600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW Washington, DC 20580

For more information on your credit call or email

Jason Schiller
Waukesha State Bank
262-244-0303 (Business)
414-659-6347 (Mobile)
jschiller@waukeshabank.com

Brad Koenig
Your Local Home Team-First Weber
http://www.yourlocalhometeam.com/
262-719-7393