How to Challenge Errors on Your Credit Report

How to Challenge Errors on Your Credit Report

The details of your job and residence, as well as your payment history, are included in your credit report, which is a subset of the broader category of consumer reports. It may also reveal whether you have been the subject of a legal action, an arrest, or a bankruptcy filing. Consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), sometimes known as credit bureaus, are organizations that aggregate and sell your credit history to various entities. The information in your report is used by businesses to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, and other uses permitted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), so it's crucial that everything be correct.

A few financial experts advise checking your credit report once in a while for errors or omissions. If you're looking at making a significant purchase, like a house, this may be crucial information to have. You can save time waiting for a credit decision by verifying the accuracy of your credit report ahead of time.

Obtaining one's credit report

The FCRA mandates that if you have been denied credit, insurance, or employment based on information provided by a CRA, the denying business must provide you with the CRA's contact information. Within 60 days of getting a denial notice, you may request a free copy of your report by contacting the agency directly. If you are unemployed and plan to look for work within 60 days, receive welfare, or believe your report is erroneous due to fraud, you are entitled to a free copy of your report once per year. 

In that case, the CRA may charge you up to $9 to provide you with a copy of your report.

If you're just looking to get your credit report, you can do so by contacting any of the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) listed in the Yellow Pages under "credit" or "credit rating and reporting." Three of the most prominent national credit reporting agencies are: Contact Equifax at (800) 685-1111 or P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241. To contact Experian, write to P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, or call (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742). Contact Trans Union at (800) 916-8800 or at P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022.

Fixing Mistakes

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires both the credit reporting agency (CRA) and the institution (such as a bank or credit card company) that gave the information to the CRA to take steps to rectify any inaccuracies or omissions in your report. Contacting both the CRA and the information source will ensure that your legal rights are fully protected.

Your first step should be to submit a written explanation to the CRA, detailing the specifics of the information they have that you believe to be incorrect. If you have supporting papers, include copies (not originals). Your letter should include your full name and address, a detailed explanation of your disagreement with the content in question, and a request that it be removed or corrected. Include a copy of your report with the relevant sections highlighted for review. The format of your letter could be similar to the one provided below. Make sure the CRA receives your letter by sending it certified mail with a return receipt requested. Save any enclosures you sent with your letter of protest.

Unless the CRA finds your objection to be frivolous, they must reinvestigate the things at issue, usually within 30 days. They are also obligated to relay any information you submit related to the dispute to the original data supplier. Following CRA notification of a dispute, the information provider is obligated to conduct an investigation, analyze the CRA's provided information, and then report back to the CRA with the findings. If the information provider verifies your claim and determines the disputed information to be incorrect, it is obligated to inform all national CRAs so they can update your file accordingly. All contentious details that can't be independently verified must be removed from your file.

The CRA must make the necessary changes to your report if it includes any errors.

Incomplete items are those that the CRA is obligated to finish. If your file indicated that you were tardy in making payments but did not indicate that you are no longer delinquent, the CRA is obligated to rectify the situation.

The IRS must remove any information about a tax account from your file if that account belongs to someone else.

If the dispute leads to a correction in your report, the CRA is obligated to reinvestigate the situation and provide you with a written report of their findings along with a complimentary copy of your report once they have finished. Without written notice that includes the provider's name, address, and phone number, the CRA is not allowed to reinstate the disputed information into your file after it has been amended or removed.

If you ask, the CRA will also notify others who got your report during the prior six months of the adjustments. A candidate for employment may request that a revised copy of their report be supplied to any employer who has requested it within the prior two years. Request that the CRA include your statement of the dispute in your file and subsequent reports if a reinvestigation does not settle your dispute.

Second, if there is an item on your credit report that you want to dispute, you should contact the creditor or other information provider in writing. Please remember to enclose copies of any relevant papers rather than the originals when arguing your case. There is often a dispute-handling address listed by suppliers. Providers who report items that are disputed to the CRA must include a notification of the dispute. Moreover, if you are right and the contested material is inaccurate, the source cannot use it again. 

Validly Disappointing Data The only way to guarantee the deletion of true negative information from your credit report is the passage of time. In most cases, bad information can remain on your credit report for seven years if it is accurate. Certain conditions do not apply. There is no time limit on disclosing information concerning a criminal conviction. There is a 10-year window within which bankruptcies can be reported. 

There is no time limit on the retention of credit information supplied in response to an application for employment paying more than $75,000; There is no time limit on the use of credit reports that are the result of an application for credit or life insurance totaling more than $150,000. The statute of limitations on reporting a lawsuit or unsatisfied judgment against you is seven years. There is no time limit on disclosing a criminal conviction.

Improving Your Documentation by Including New Accounts

Perhaps not all of your credit accounts are reflected on your credit report. Credit cards from large department stores and general-purpose banks will make up the bulk of the information in your file; however, not all creditors report to CRAs. There are certain creditors who don't, including some travel, entertainment, and gas card firms, local businesses, and credit unions. If you have been denied credit and you know you have accounts with creditors that aren't reflected in your credit file, you can petition the CRA to include this information in your future reports. CRAs are not obligated to add verifiable accounts, but many do so for a fee. If these creditors do not routinely report to the CRA, however, the CRA will not update your file to reflect the new information.