Credit Report Dispute Reasons

The Fair Credit Reporting Act protects credit bureaus from having to investigate baseless disputes. However, the Credit Infocenter credit repair website states there are many legitimate reasons for legitimate challenges. You can dispute any kind of mistake, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) explains, and the item containing it must be taken off your credit report if the lender does not prove it is correct. You may be able to significantly improve your credit score if you can find errors in most of the negative items on your report.

Names

Banks, finance companies and other lenders often change their names. You can dispute an account if this has happened and your credit report still shows the old name. You may also file a dispute if there is a misspelling or other error in the name.

Dates

Credit reports are full of dates. Each account lists the date it was opened, payment dates and related information. An item can be disputed if any of the dates are incorrect, the Credit Infocenter explains, especially if you are being dunned for a late payment that was really made on time. You can strengthen your position if you have a contract, statement or receipt that can be sent along with your dispute.

Amounts

There will be many amounts on your credit report, such as your current balance, high credit limit and payment amounts. Many of these should change monthly, but they may be wrong if they have not been updated or if they are being reported incorrectly by the lender. This gives you legitimate grounds to challenge them.

Status

Each credit bureau uses codes to show the status of your accounts. They provide a key with your report report so you can interpret it. You can file a dispute if any item has been given an incorrect status, the Credit Infocenter advises.

Unfamiliar Accounts

You may find unfamiliar accounts on your credit report. They should be removed if they do not belong to you. Such accounts could be an indicator of identity theft, the FTC warns, so you should contact the lenders along with disputing them through the credit bureaus. Ask the bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit reports if you have reason to suspect criminal activity.

Outdated Information

Most negative information can only stay on your credit reports for a limited time period. The Motley Fool financial site states that most items must be removed after seven years, although bankruptcies can remain for ten years. You can dispute any old items that were not automatically erased at the end of the legal reporting period.