How to Contest Negative Entries on a Credit Report

There are three major consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. By law, these companies must provide every American who requests one with a free copy of his credit report every 12 months. You can request your report from the reporting bureaus or from www.annualcreditreport.com, which is the only government-authorized site. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires these agencies, as well as the companies that report to them, to correct any information proven to be erroneous. For example, suppose your credit report lists late payments on your auto loan. If you have the canceled checks to prove that you made the payments on time, you should contest those negative, erroneous entries on your credit report. There are certain steps you need to take in order to have the information removed from your credit file.

Instructions

1

Order copies of your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies. This can be done by telephone, by mail or online. When you receive your reports, decide which negative entries you will be disputing, and circle them.

2

Make copies of any documents that will support your dispute, as well as copies of the credit report with the disputed items circled.

3

Write a letter of dispute. A sample of this type of letter can be found on the Federal Trade Commission's website. You need to include your name and address, and a list of each item that you are disputing. Explain why you are disputing each item and ask that the item be removed from your credit file.

4

To mail your dispute letter. put the copied documents, the copy of the credit report and your dispute letter in an envelope and send it via certified mail to the credit reporting company. It is very important to send the material by certified mail because then you have a receipt that includes the date of mailing and an article number that allows you to verify delivery, and the recipient must sign for the letter at the time of delivery. Remember to save copies of everything that you send, with the exception of your documentation; send only copies of that, and keep the originals.

5

You also can dispute negative entries on your credit report online at each of the three credit reporting companies' websites. www.experian.com, www.transunion.com and www.ai.equifax.com. There are easy-to-follow instructions on each site.