Credit Report Dispute – Know How to Make a Dispute
You can send your credit report dispute online, by mail or by phone. If you wish to do this through the Internet or your phone, you must have ordered a copy of your credit report information the previous month and your credit account number must be approved.
Using the Internet
Online credit report errors can be easily done, but there are some shortcomings. If you carry out an online dispute, you can only get results online. Also, when you dispute online, you are to give your confirmation number, before you can verify the status of your dispute. However, the results will be sent online, not by mail.
Also, you cannot complete the process online because you are to mail your documentation or evidence that will allow your dispute and offer evidence to your favor.
If you choose to carry out an online dispute, use these links to submit an online credit report on the webpage of the major credit bureau:
- Experian
- Equifax
- TransUnion.
Reporting Disputes Using Mail
A mail credit report dispute will require more time to complete, but if the credit bureau does not give you answers on time, you will be given a paper trail. The Credit bureaus use 30 days to investigate and respond, or may use 45 days when you give additional evidence in the course of the investigation. If they do not respond at that time, you can sue the Federal Court for up to $ 1000.
For those who are disputing a credit report error through the mail, you are to write a letter explaining with reasons the information that is incorrect and should be removed. Make sure you add a copy of the error, if available. Then, send it through certified mail alongside the receipt required to prove when the dispute was made and the creditor received. And be mindful of the time it all happened.
Reporting Disputes Using Phone
Your credit report may contain a number that you can call to dispute reporting errors. If not, you can contact all the three credit bureaus using this:
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742
- Transunion: 1-800-916-8800
- Equifax: 1-866-349-5191
Take note of the time you called, who responded and all the information that you were given concerning your dispute. In some cases, such as fraud, you can be asked to call the credit report bureau to give more information, even if, it is mail or online
Dispute Addresses for the Major Credit Bureaus
TransUnion LLC
Consumer Dispute Center
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016
Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374
Experian
P.O. Box 4500
Allen, TX 75013
How to Dispute a Credit Report
- Quickly Identify Any Credit Report Errors. To ensure this review your credit report regularly for any information that is not correct or incomplete
- Next, you have to Verify Your Credit Report’s Errors by Contacting the creditor to verify their records and confirm the error.
- Don’t be in a hurry. Give Time for the thorough Investigation.
- Do your Follow Up on the Investigation regularly.
You have to wait until the credit bureau answers your credit report dispute
The Credit bureau can remove the information in your dispute without delay. But, if those deleted items are verified later, they can reinsert previously deleted items. So, the credit bureau must write to you that the deleted item has been reinserted in your credit report.
All details about the inaccuracy of the information that you provided will be sent to the original information provider. The information provider is obliged to investigate and respond to the credit bureau.
When the investigation has been completed and the outcome of the dispute changes, the Credit Bureau will give you a free copy of your credit report and the result of the investigation. You can now ask the credit bureau to send a correction notice to companies that have been able to access your credit report in the last six months.
If your credit report from one credit bureau is incorrect, probably it could be incorrect in the other two reports. So, you are to check all three credit accounts to ensure that they are all complete and correct.
In some cases, the credit bureau may say that the investigation has been confirmed by the creditor. Then, you are to bypass the credit bureau and send your dispute directly to the creditor to clarify all report disputes.
