CREDIT REPAIR FREQUENTLY ASK QUESTIONS

 

What Happens After You Dispute With A Credit Bureau?

 

• However, you filed your dispute, the credit bureau has 30 days to investigate it.

• If the credit bureau considers your request to be “frivolous” or “irrelevant,” they will stop investigating, but they need to notify you of that and give the reason. For instance, you may need to give them additional evidence to support your request.

• The credit bureau will also forward all the evidence you submitted to the business that reported the information. Then, the business must investigate and report the results back to the credit bureau. If the business finds the information, they reported is inaccurate, it must notify all three nationwide credit bureaus so they can correct the information in your file.

• The credit bureau must give you the results in writing and, if the dispute results in a change, a free copy of your credit report. This doesn’t count as your free annual credit report.

• The credit bureau

 

• must send notices of the correction(s) to anyone who got your report in the past six months, if you ask

• must send notice of the correction to anyone who got a copy for employment purposes during the past two years, if you ask

 

 

What If The Investigation Doesn’t Resolve Your Dispute?

 

• You can ask that a statement of the dispute be included in your file and in future reports. Also, you can ask that the credit bureau give your statement to anyone who got a copy of your report in the recent past — you can expect the credit bureau to charge you a fee to do this.

 

 

Dispute it with the business that supplied the information

 

• You can use the sample letters to dispute mistakes with businesses that reported the inaccurate or incomplete information. Sample letters (Disputing Inaccurate Information That A Business Supplied or Method of Verification) listed below.

 

• The letter should say you’re disputing errors or inaccuracies and should include: your complete name and address; each bit of inaccurate information that you want fixed, and why; and copies (not originals) of documents that support your request.

• Many businesses want disputes sent to a particular address. If you can’t find a dispute address on your credit report or online, contact the business and ask for the correct address to send your letter.

 

Very Important: Don’t forget to send your letter(s) via U.S. Postal Service Certified Mail with Return Receipt and Signature Confirmation.

 

 

What Happens After You Dispute With A Business That Supplied The Data?

 

If the business keeps reporting the disputed information to a credit bureau, it must let the credit bureau know about your dispute and the credit bureau must include a notice that you are disputing it as inaccurate or incomplete. If the business finds the information you dispute to be inaccurate or incomplete, the business must tell the credit bureau to update or delete that information from your report.

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Can I make dispute directly to the original creditors?

 

Yes, but it’s usually advisable to go through the credit bureau instead for most disputes. If you think the original issuer of the information made a clerical mistake and would correct the error easily, you can contact them directly.

 

However, the process described above is the best way to ensure disputed information is removed promptly. If you decided to make a dispute to a creditor, keep detailed records with anyone you talked to on the phone, with time, date and what was discussed.

 

And if this method doesn’t work, you can still go to the credit bureau to make a formal dispute using one of the dispute letters above.

 

 

Can I Make Disputes Online or By Phone?

 

Yes, you can make disputes online. All three credit bureaus provide online portals on their websites where you can make disputes. Some people choose to do this because it is easier than sending letters (and cheaper than certified mail).

 

HOWEVER, WE ONLY RECOMMEND MAKING DISPUTES BY U.S. CERTIFIED MAIL WITH RETURN RECEIPT WITH SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION. IT’S EASIER TO KEEP TRACK OF CORRESPONDENCE. YOU ALSO KNOW WHEN THE DISPUTE WAS RECEIVED. AND SOME STATISTICS SHOW THAT LETTER-BASED DISPUTES HAVE A HIGHER CHANCE OF SUCCESS.

 

You cannot make disputes by phone, although you can request hard copies of your credit report by phone.

 

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Does Repair Improve My Credit Score?

 

YES in many cases.. Removing negatives items from your credit report often improves your score. However, that’s more of a happy side effect that a primary. The goal of credit repair is to ensure your credit report is accurate. That way, when creditors review it, you have a clean bill of credit health. This will often improve your score, too.

 

The key point here, is that you can’t go into a credit repair process expecting to improve your credit score by a certain amount. Scores are highly specific to an individual, so changes vary on your credit history, the number of other penalties you have and where your score was before the item(s) was removed. This is why credit score improvement guarantees typically indicate a scam.

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How Long Does Credit Repair Take?

 

If you download your reports, review and send the disputes that day, you can expect it to take anywhere from 31-40 days. The timing depends on how quickly the credit bureau receive your dispute. It will take longer if you need to make disputes in several rounds to the same credit bureau. If you have more than FIVE DISPUTES to make on one report, you should always send them in rounds (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, etc.). DISPUTE 5 ITEMS AT A TIME FOR BETTER RESULTS!!!

 

In general, if you act quickly throughout the process, you should expect to be finished with the credit repair process within 40-90 days. Even with several rounds of disputes, the process should take no more than 3 months. If you review and make disputes regularly, then it should take less than 40 days, in total.

 

 

Should I Review One Credit Report or All Three?

 

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you can download one report from each credit bureau once every twelve months. This means you can review and dispute any mistakes once per year for free.

 

If you’ve never gone through this process before, start with all three credit reports. They may not have the exact information, so you want to make sure all three credit reports are clean. However, if you’ve done this before, you may choose to do just one at a time. This would allow you to review your credit up to three times throughout the year.

 

On the other hand, some people prefer to always do the three credit reports at once. You take one day per year to review your credit report and see if you need to make any disputes. This saves you time and keeps your credit clean.

 

 

What Does “Verify” Mean?

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Verification is the key to making disputes. If an item cannot be verified, then it must be removed. That’s exactly how the law is worded, and that matters. Keep in mind that verifiable and correct are two different things. This can work in your favor or work against you, depending on the situation.

 

• An example of when verification can work in your favor. Let’s say you’ve had a debt that’s gone through multiple collectors. It’s been bought and sold several times. In many cases, collectors don’t have to complete information about the original debt, which is required to verify that the debt is really yours for the amount they say. If you ask a credit bureau to verify it and the collector can’t provide all the information required, then it must be removed. This can sometimes get a collection account removed, even it it’s legitimately a debt that you originally owed. Basically, you get off on a technicality because the collector doesn’t have compete records.

 

• An example of when verification can work against you. Let’s say you missed a mortgage payment that you made on time because of an insurance issue. For example, if you flood insurance isn’t up-to-date with the mortgage lender, they increase your payment requirement. If you have recurring payments set up and don’t pay attention to correspondence, then the payment you make won’t cover the requirement for that month. Then they report to the credit bureau that you missed a payment even though you paid on time. Even if you correct the issue with the lender, the credit bureau may count the information as verifiable because you technically missed the payment, even though it was wrong.

 

 

What If The Information is Right…But Not Good?

 

If there’s information in your credit history that’s correct, but negative — for example, if you’ve made late payments — the credit bureaus can put it in your credit report. But it doesn’t stay there forever. As long as the information is correct, a credit bureau can report most negative information for seven years, and bankruptcy information for 10 years.

 

 

Does A 609 Letter REALLY Improve My Credit?

 

There’s no evidence to suggest a 609 letter is more or less effective than the usual process of disputing an error on your credit report—it’s just another method of doing so. If the dispute is valid, the credit bureaus will remove the negative item. Any accurate or verifiable information will stay on your credit report—a 609 letter doesn’t guarantee its removal.

 

 

How To Correct Mistakes in Your Credit Report?

 

Both the credit bureau and the business that supplied the information to a credit bureau have to correct information that’s wrong or incomplete in your report. And they have to do it for free. To correct mistakes in your report, contact the credit bureau and the business that reported the inaccurate information. Tell them you want to dispute that information on your report. Here’s how.

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Dispute Mistakes With The Credit Bureaus?

 

You should dispute with each credit bureau that has the mistake. Explain in writing what you think is wrong, include the credit bureau’s dispute form (if they have one), copies of documents that support your dispute, and keep records of everything you send. If you send your dispute by mail, you can use the address found on your credit report or a credit bureau’s address for disputes.

 

 

How Can I Repair My Credit Myself?

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If the number of errors on your credit report is below average, fixing credit yourself could end up being a free alternative. When fixing your credit you’ll want to download a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus. By law, each credit bureau is required to give you one

free credit report per year.

 

Once you have your credit report, you’ll want to review it for any discrepancies and negative items and gather all of the documentation needed to build your case before filing a dispute. There are a few ways you can go about filing a dispute:

 

• Submit a letter of dispute to the credit bureaus

• Contact the business that reported the error to the credit bureau

• Send a Pay For Delete Letter to your creditor

• Send a Goodwill Letter to your creditor

• Send a 609 Dispute Letter to the credit bureaus

 

 

Is Your Credit Report Accurate?

 

The information in your credit report can affect your buying power and your chance to get a job, rent or buy a place to live, and buy insurance. Credit bureaus sell the information in your report to businesses that use it to decide whether to loan you money, give you credit, offer you insurance, or rent you a home. Some employers use credit reports in hiring decisions. The strength of your credit history also affects how much you will have to pay to borrow money.

 

You’ll want to be sure the information in your report is both accurate and complete. Find out by regularly checking your credit report. You have the right to get free copies of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once every 12 months. (That’s Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.)

 

To get your free credit reports, go to AnnualCreditReport.com.

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Through the pandemic, everyone in the U.S. can get a free credit report each week from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion at AnnualCreditReport.com. Also, anyone in the U.S. can get 6 free credit reports per year through 2026 by visiting the Equifax website or by calling 1-866-349-5191. That’s in addition to the one free Equifax report (plus your Experian and TransUnion reports) you can get at AnnualCreditReport.com.

 

Checking your credit report is also a good way to spot identity theft. That’s when someone uses your personal information — like your name and address, credit card or bank account numbers, Social Security number, or medical insurance account numbers — without your permission. They might buy things with your credit cards, get new credit cards in your name, open a phone, electricity, or gas account in your name, steal your tax refund, or use your health insurance to get medical care.

 

Then, when they don’t pay the bills, the account is reported on your credit report as unpaid and delinquent. Inaccurate information like that could end up on your credit report and affect your ability to get credit, insurance, or even a job. If you think someone might be using your personal information, go to IdentityTheft.gov to report it and get a personalized recovery plan.

 

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What If The Information is Right…But Not Good?

 

If there’s information in your credit history that’s correct, but negative — for example, if you’ve made late payments — the credit bureaus can put it in your credit report. But it doesn’t stay there forever. As long as the information is correct, a credit bureau can report most negative information for seven years, and bankruptcy information for 10 years.

 

 

How To Correct Mistakes in Your Credit Report?

 

Both the credit bureau and the business that supplied the information to a credit bureau have to correct information that’s wrong or incomplete in your report. And they have to do it for free. To correct mistakes in your report, contact the credit bureau and the business that reported the inaccurate information. Tell them you want to dispute that information on your report. Here’s how.

 

 

Can I Dispute Mistakes With The Credit Bureaus?

 

You should dispute with each credit bureau that has the mistake. Explain in writing what you think is wrong, include the credit bureau’s dispute form (if they have one), copies of documents that support your dispute, and keep records of everything you send. If you send your dispute by mail, you can use the address found on your credit report or a credit bureau’s address for disputes.

 

 

What’s Considered A Good Credit Score?

 

When you are first starting out, it is likely—and understandable—that your credit score will not be very high. It takes time and diligence to build up to an excellent credit score, and young people typically do not have the length of credit history to show that they are reliable borrowers.

 

According to FICO®—a data company that analyzes consumer credit information from major credit bureaus—these are the five credit score categories:

 

1. Poor: Below 580

2. Fair: 580–669

3. Good: 670–739

4. Very Good: 740–799

5. Excellent: 800 and above

 

Working toward at least a “good” credit score is an important signal to lenders that you are a reliable borrower. You can do this by understanding the factors that influence your credit score and managing your credit in a way that boosts your score as much as possible.

 

 

What Are Factors That Influence Credit Score?

 

FICO explains that there are five main factors that affect your credit score: new credit, credit mix, length of credit history, amounts owed and payment history. All are important to consider when building credit, although some factors carry more weight than others.

 

 

 How You Can Take Advantage of Your FCRA Rights? 

 

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to repair your credit, but it doesn’t do the job for you. If there are questionable negative items on your credit reports and you do nothing about them, odds are they will remain on your report. Only by pursuing your FCRA rights, or by enlisting a trustworthy credit repair service, can you ensure that your credit reports are a fair and accurate representation of your creditworthiness.

 

 

Does The FCRA Regulate Banks And Credit Card Issuers?

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All credit bureaus, banks and credit card companies operate as private businesses, meaning they are not regulated by the government. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the FCRA were put in place to help protect consumer rights by regulating the accuracy, fairness and privacy of credit information.

 

According to the FCRA, you have the right to access your credit reports, challenge incorrect or incomplete information, limit who can access your reports, seek damages from violators, be told if your credit report is used against you, and more. Individual states may have additional consumer reporting laws beyond FCRA provisions.

 

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