What You Should Know About Fixing a Credit Report

Fixing a credit report starts with reading it carefully. You can get a free credit report online (just look up “free credit report”). You can get a free copy of your report once a year, as well as when you are denied for credit – you can request a free copy of your credit report from the credit agency which supplied the report to the prospective creditor who turned you down.<

One look at your credit report should give you the answers you need on why you were turned down for credit. However, what’s the next step? Is there items on the report which are inaccurate, or ones which are correct but that you feel to be unfair?

If you want to dispute anything on your credit report, then you can do so in writing to the credit agency. You have to tell them that a given item is incorrect and by law they must investigate the matter within 30 days. You should send your dispute via certified mail and include any supporting documentation (for example, canceled checks and the like).

In the course of their investigation, the credit agency has to contact the business which reported the inaccurate item. If your do not receive a responce with proof within 14 days the credit agency must remove the item from your credit report. Afterwards, they will send you an updated copy of your report and if you ask them to do so, they will also send a copy to any creditor who has asked to see your report in the last six months. Remember though, you have to ask for this since the agency will not do this otherwise.

If the item is over a year old or amounts to less than $500, many creditors will see it as not worth their time and will not respond to the credit reporting bureau. Fixing a credit report can be done, even if the items contained are accurate. Even if you can’t have an item removed the first time you try, you are allowed to dispute it again after 30 days have passed.

If it is impossible to remove an item that you have disputed, you are permitted to add a brief explanation, which will be visible to anyone who pulls your credit report. This explanation will be viewable to any prospective creditor who looks at your credit report.

If there is a long history of late payments and defaults, fixing a credit report can be a long term project. However, you can correct some of the problems and provide an explanation for others. This kind of effort will go along way in helping to repair your credit report.