RAISING YOUR SCORE BY DISPUTING NEGATIVE ITEMS

In the last post, we explored the reasons to check your credit reports periodically. What do you do when you find that there are inaccuracies in your reports?

When you find that there is incorrect information on your reports you can address this yourself. You do not have to go to someone and pay large sums of money for them to do this for you. It is advised that you write letters to credit bureaus when you have something to dispute. It is important to keep all records of your financial transactions should this type of situation arise, because you are going to need to present them to the credit bureaus to prove that a non-payment, for example, actually was paid. In the letter you write to them, make sure to state plainly what is inaccurate, provide proof with copies of your records and ask them to correct the item. One more important thing that you must do when sending correspondence to credit bureaus is to send it by certified mail. They will have to sign for your letter and you will have confirmation that they did receive it. From this point on the credit bureau will handle the rest.

It is the credit bureau's duty to investigate your claim. They do this by notifying the entity that offered them the disputed information. In turn, the company which reported the disputed information will do their own investigation. If the company discovers that you are right, you did pay the required amount to them, they will report this to the credit bureau. The credit bureau is then obligated to let the other credit bureaus know that this piece of information is inaccurate. The incorrect item will be removed from your credit reports.

The credit report that has the inaccurate information may have been sent to people who requested it. The inaccurate information on the report may have been the reason that you did not get the mortgage you applied for. The credit bureau is also responsible for sending an updated version of your credit report to anyone they sent it to in its flawed form. When this happens you may be able to return to your mortgage broker and have a better result.

If there is anything missing from your reports you can also contact the credit bureaus about it. What is missing might help you raise your credit score when it is added to the report. It is worth the time it takes you to send for your credit reports and dispute anything incorrect or missing if it results in a better score.