Easy Ways to Fix Credit Report Mistakes

Errors and mistakes listed in a credit report can have serious consequences on your financial future. It is vital that consumers pull copies of credit reports yearly to review for accuracy. Any errors noted should be corrected right away. To correct errors on your credit report, you must follow one of three options.

Credit Reports

Credit reports are a comprehensive record of the way you have maintained your financial accounts. A score is assigned to your credit report and is based on the information listed within your credit report. The more negative information in your account, the lower your credit score. A credit report with a lot of negative account information will result in a lower credit score, which will further result in lack of credit you can obtain, higher interest rates, higher insurance premiums and possibly the inability to rent or obtain certain jobs.

Mail a Letter

Mailing a letter is one way to dispute negative and incorrect items on your credit report. A dispute mailing address is listed in your credit report. Write a brief letter explaining that you have reviewed your credit report and found mistakes. List each mistake and include the information regarding the account. Ask that the item be corrected so your report is an accurate picture of your financial history. Mail the letter to the address in the credit report.

Call

Call the credit bureau in question. The dispute phone number should be listed in your credit report. Follow the prompts to reach a live operator who can handle your dispute. Tell the operator all of the mistakes you found in your credit report and she will initiate a dispute to update or correct the information.

Online

Visit the credit bureau online. Enter the requested personal information and credit report number. List each account on your credit report that you wish to dispute. Submit the dispute and the information is electronically sent to the credit bureau and the investigation will commence.

Dispute Process

The credit bureau in question will start the investigation once you have provided the information. The bureau contacts the creditors and asks them to verify or correct the information. The creditor must respond within a certain time frame, or the credit bureau will delete the entire account. Be careful when disputing a mistake on an otherwise positive reporting account because you risk the entire account being deleted if the creditor doesn't respond. A deleted positive account can lower your credit score. An example of this would be you have a credit card that has never been late and is 10 years old, but you notice the balance is a few dollars off what is actually on the card. A difference of a few dollars on a balance is not going to affect your credit score, and if you dispute this and the creditor fails to respond you now have lost the entire trade-line that affects your credit utilization and the age of your credit file, and may result in a drop of your credit score.