If you find any mistakes on your credit report you will need to open a credit report dispute.
It is very important to monitor and take care of your credit score.
Having a good credit score can be the deciding factor if you need to apply for any kind of financing, and it can also make a huge difference to the interest rates that you will pay on a mortgage or other loan.
The good news though is that mistakes and any other negative entries on your report can be removed.
What is more, it is very simple to start a credit report dispute, which is the first step in having errors corrected.
However, it is important to follow the procedure in the right way.
The first step is to find the address of the agency that created the report and write to them.
Send them a copy of your report with a circle around each item that you want to challenge in your credit report dispute.
In your letter, you should ask them to investigate these highlighted entries and send them copies of any letters or receipts you have that could support your case.
Do not send them the original documents however: you should keep those yourself.
It is also a good idea to send a copy of the papers to the company that was responsible for the item that you are challenging (the creditor).
For example, if a store is saying that you did not pay their invoice, and you have a receipt, you should send a copy of the receipt to the store, explaining that you are disputing this item on your credit report and asking them to remove the item that has been lodged in error.
It may make sense to contact the creditors first, as it may be possible to resolve the problem before you even have to contact the credit reporting agency.
If this happens, then you will not need to send any supporting papers to the agency and you can use the online dispute system to make the matter even simpler.
If the creditor has not already corrected the mistake before the agency receives your credit report dispute letter, the agency will investigate your claim.
The way that they do this is to write to the creditor asking them to show evidence to prove that the information they gave was accurate.
If the creditor cannot do this, the item will be removed from your report.
This is extremely important, as the burden of proof is on the creditor, not on you.
This means that it is often very easy to have a credit report dispute settled in your favor.
Even if you do not succeed and the decision goes against you, you can still appeal by disputing the item again.
After a second dispute, even if the item was not removed, you can ask to have a note added onto the report giving your side of the story.
For this, you can write up to 100 words.
It is worth taking some time to consider exactly what you want to write here because it will remain on your credit report for as long as the item does.
Keep it factual and avoid anything that may sound critical or angry, as this will only count against you in the eyes of future potential creditors reading your report.
It is definitely possible to succeed in cleaning up your credit report and improving your score by working at it.
All you need to do is initiate a credit report dispute for every item that you want to challenge.
It is very important to monitor and take care of your credit score.
Having a good credit score can be the deciding factor if you need to apply for any kind of financing, and it can also make a huge difference to the interest rates that you will pay on a mortgage or other loan.
The good news though is that mistakes and any other negative entries on your report can be removed.
What is more, it is very simple to start a credit report dispute, which is the first step in having errors corrected.
However, it is important to follow the procedure in the right way.
The first step is to find the address of the agency that created the report and write to them.
Send them a copy of your report with a circle around each item that you want to challenge in your credit report dispute.
In your letter, you should ask them to investigate these highlighted entries and send them copies of any letters or receipts you have that could support your case.
Do not send them the original documents however: you should keep those yourself.
It is also a good idea to send a copy of the papers to the company that was responsible for the item that you are challenging (the creditor).
For example, if a store is saying that you did not pay their invoice, and you have a receipt, you should send a copy of the receipt to the store, explaining that you are disputing this item on your credit report and asking them to remove the item that has been lodged in error.
It may make sense to contact the creditors first, as it may be possible to resolve the problem before you even have to contact the credit reporting agency.
If this happens, then you will not need to send any supporting papers to the agency and you can use the online dispute system to make the matter even simpler.
If the creditor has not already corrected the mistake before the agency receives your credit report dispute letter, the agency will investigate your claim.
The way that they do this is to write to the creditor asking them to show evidence to prove that the information they gave was accurate.
If the creditor cannot do this, the item will be removed from your report.
This is extremely important, as the burden of proof is on the creditor, not on you.
This means that it is often very easy to have a credit report dispute settled in your favor.
Even if you do not succeed and the decision goes against you, you can still appeal by disputing the item again.
After a second dispute, even if the item was not removed, you can ask to have a note added onto the report giving your side of the story.
For this, you can write up to 100 words.
It is worth taking some time to consider exactly what you want to write here because it will remain on your credit report for as long as the item does.
Keep it factual and avoid anything that may sound critical or angry, as this will only count against you in the eyes of future potential creditors reading your report.
It is definitely possible to succeed in cleaning up your credit report and improving your score by working at it.
All you need to do is initiate a credit report dispute for every item that you want to challenge.
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