How to Dispute a Credit Score With the Credit Rating Systems

All of the information that appears on your credit report, with the exception of the information used to identify you, will impact your credit score in some way. The credit bureaus have separate credit rating systems used to calculate your score. If, while examining your credit file, you discover that your score is much lower than it should be, there is a good possibility that your report contains errors. You can dispute the error and your inaccurate score with the credit bureaus and request that the inaccuracies be investigated.

Instructions

1

Request your formal credit reports from the credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. With the exception of Experian, you can opt to purchase a copy of your credit reports at any time. The Fair Credit Reporting Act also entitles you to one free credit report per year from each credit bureau. The government-approved website to request your yearly consumer credit reports is AnnualCreditReport.com.

2

Identify any information that the credit bureaus' rating system counts as derogatory and that you suspect may be inaccurate. Derogatory information lowers your credit score. Even if you are not sure if the debt is legitimate or not, you still have the right to dispute the debt and request an investigation. The most common forms of derogatory information are collection accounts and evidence of late payments to creditors.

3

Compile any evidence you have proving that the negative information is inaccurate. If the errors have impacted your credit score to the point where you have been turned down for credit, gather evidence of this as well to demonstrate to the representative who reviews your dispute how the credit bureau's errors have negatively impacted your life.

4

Write a letter of dispute and mail the letter, along with your evidence, to each credit bureau that is reporting the errors you are disputing. If you do not have supporting evidence, you may request an investigation of the inaccuracies online or by phone.

5

Allow each credit bureau 30 days from the date your dispute is received to investigate your claims, review your evidence and remove the errors from your credit report that have resulted in the credit rating systems assigning you an incorrect score. After 30 days you will receive a written copy of the results of the investigation.