Negative Items Removed From Credit Report: How To Do It?

Maybe you are not aware that incorrect information in your credit score report can ruin your credit position and jeopardize your chances of availing loans or credit cards.  Therefore, you should not allow it to remain there.

In removing incorrect information from your credit report, you have two options: seek the help of a credit repair agency or do it yourself.  Authentic credit repair agencies can save you time and the hassle of writing letters and following up with credit bureaus for the actions taken.  But be careful with dubious agencies that make all kinds of false promises that are not possible, like removal of all negative entries which includes accurate and genuine ones such as late payment histories and bankruptcies.  By federal law, these negative entries have to remain in your credit score report for seven years, and even 10 years if there is a bankruptcy.  These agencies cannot get these details removed.

If you want to dispute errors by yourself, you have to do the following:

	Photocopy your credit score report and encircle every item that you think is incorrect.
	Write a letter to the credit bureau (you will find the address on the report) and explain each item for dispute in the report. Request for an investigation or resolution of the issues – if you have more paperwork to support your claim, send it too. For example, if the dispute involves your current address, send a copy of a utility bill or driver’s license to verify your claim. Always remember to make a copy of all your documents, never send the originals.
	Send your materials by certified mail, with a request for return receipt - this will prove that the letter was received.
	Also send a similar letter to the creditor who owns the reporting statements that you disagree with. Check billing statements for the correct address in handling disputes, since it is usually different from the address in making payments

The credit bureau will initiate an investigation and contact your creditors to verify the information in your credit score report.  Failure of the creditor to verify a particular entry is enough ground for it to be removed.  Upon the completion of the investigation, and the correction of the error, the bureau must send a free copy of your credit score report to reflect the changes that were made.  You also have the right to request them to send the corrected report to everyone who has received it within the last six months.

The following tip works best: contact the creditor first, and then allow a bit of lead time before you submit your dispute to the reporting bureau.  Hopefully when the bureau contacts the creditor, they have already corrected the error from their end.

On the other hand, if the bureau says that the information they have is accurate, you can request to receive a written notice with the phone number, address, and name of the particular person who made your credit score report.  You can initiate a second investigation if you are still not satisfied.

Some creditors may agree to delete your past due account early if you have either brought it current for one year at least or paid it off fully.  They will usually comply if they see that you are already up to date and responsibly handling your account for some time.

But in spite all your efforts, if you are still unsuccessful in attempting to correct an entry, you can request the reporting bureau to insert an explanation of your side of the story, which is usually composed of 100 characters.  It’s the least that you can do.