Disputing your Credit Report - Chapter 4
Now that we understand how to read a credit report we are going to begin to dispute and validate all of the errors section by section and clean our credit. Then, we are going to dispute all negative remarks and collections on our credit bureau. Who and how we dispute these remarks will be the gist of this chapter.
Important - Although you can make disputes online, we HIGHLY recommend that you make these by mail, using certified return receipt mail. Having a paper trail for everything you do is imperative. If you choose not to use the mail, document the time and date you made the request for an investigation and print or save the confirmation page.
Note: We recommend that you do not make contact with any of the collection agencies in an attempt to repair your credit yet. We will do this in detail next chapter. Right now, we are going to work the system to our advantage by asserting our rights through the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
As we begin, you should know these facts:
- The credit repositories are required to PROVE, within reason, that you actually owe the debt that is reporting about us.
- Credit repositories are required, by law, to investigate the source and validity of any negative remarks that are being reported about you.
- The credit bureaus, by law, are required to remove any remarks that are not responded to, or deemed valid,within a reasonable amount of time (30 - 45 days).
- When collection agencies FIRST contact you, (within the first 30 days) you have the right to have them validate the debt, who they are, who they are collecting for, how they are being paid to collect and if they are legitimately allowed to collect debts in your state.
- The credit bureau cannot report any remarks about you, except public records, for more than 7 years. Any debts that have a LAST ACTIVITY date that is older than 7 years you can have removed by sending each credit bureau this letter.
- This step, if done correctly, will take you at least 45 days to complete, most likely it will take longer.
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 Correct the Credit Report Heading
As discussed in the last chapter, the heading is the easiest part of credit repair, however if it is ignored all of your credit repair activities could be in vein. It is imperative that EVERY detail with EVERY credit bureau is identical and correct. To the right is a short video explanation. |
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Correcting the heading is pretty straight forward. All you need to do is send each credit bureau a letter of correction stating your correct name and address. You should include a copy of a picture ID and something else that carbolated the address like a utility bill. We have a sample credit letter here that you can use.
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Disputing Collections, Late Payments and Charge Off Accounts
Disputing collections and late payments is where the bulk of our work will occur. If you read the credit dispute facts above you will see that when disputing items on your credit bureau the odds are in your favor, however. This is also the most time consuming part of the process (60 - 90 days). |
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Reading from your credit report, make a list, on a separate sheet of paper, of all of the creditors that are reporting negative information about you. If you do not have your credit report, and you are serious about repairing your credit you should visit one of the top 5 credit reporting agencies and find out how you can get a free credit report.
Once you have your list, make a notation next to any collections or negative remarks that have appeared in the last thirty days. We are going to send a letter of validation to the COLLECTION AGENCIES, not the credit bureaus. If the negative remark is over 30 days we are going to send a dispute letter to all three credit bureaus.
Note: I am suggest that you send disputes for ALL negative remarks on your credit bureau, those you legitimately owe and those you do not. By sending disputes about all negative remarks, by law, the credit bureaus must conduct an investigation. The credit bureaus will then contact the creditor and ask for PROOF of the item they are reporting.
Often times these companies lack sufficient proof or fail to respond in a timely manor and we can request that these items be removed regardless of their legitimacy. Understandably, some people have a moral objection to doing this because we are having legitimate debts remove by working the system, let your conscious be your guide.
Send ALL disputes to ALL three credit bureaus, NOT collection agencies, using this letter. Send these letters certified mail with a return receipt. This will cost you a couple of bucks for each letter, but it is absolutely worth it. Next, write down on your list of collections the time and date that you sent the dispute letter. These are your personal notes to refer back to when you are dealing with collection agencies and re-disputes. Also, build a file folder labeled, "Credit Bureau Initial Dispute", or something similar. Now we wait. |
Letter Responses
Note: send copies of every thing, not the originals. Within 30 days you should get a response from all three credit repositories. The responses will be (paraphrased):
- We have validated your debt and it is legitimate - If you get this letter and the debt is legitimate, it's time to move on to the collection agency to begin negotiations. UNLESS, the debt collection/discrepancy appears more than once on your credit bureau and is being reported by different company. This means the debt has been sold and the initial company is still reporting your collection.
If you find that a debt has been reported more than once, locate the oldest reported collection. This will be the company that originally reported your debt and most likely are the ones that sold your debt to the newer collection agency. Once you locate that company send this letter to have them validate the debt. Adjust the letter accordingly.
Next, If you feel that the debt really cant be proved you can send this letter to the original creditor, (i.e. sprint) not the collection agency or the credit bureau. If you do not receive a response or a response that you feel isn't sufficient proof you can request a reinvestigation by the credit reporting agency. The you send this letter, a copy of the letter you sent to the original creditor, the return receipts and their response, or lack of to the credit reporting agencies.
- We have not heard from/ or received sufficient proof that the debt exist - In this cave the collection or discrepancy should be removed without any further involvement from you. Note: Often one of the three credit bureaus will remove the collection and the others may not. In this case, send the letter you received, or proof that you didn't receive from the collection agencies to the credit bureaus and request a re-investigation.
The bottom line here is this; if you legitimately owe the debt and the credit bureaus validate that you actually owe the debt you will most likely need to move to the collection agency to resolve the debt. |
Did we leave something out? If you have comments or questions post them in our credit repair blog. |
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