How To Dispute a Credit Report

The most effective method of improving a low credit score is to dispute negative marks on your credit report. The reason this helps is because it will show a better payment history, this factor accounts for up to 35% of your score.

To dispute a negative mark, you need to send a dispute letter after contacting each credit bureau. The bureau will frequently reply with a letter requesting more information about the item.

This is a stall tactic the bureaus use. They have found it more cost effective to delay instead of actually investigating the dispute. It is common for people to give up at this point and continue to pay outrageous interest rates.

In time, the bureaus will investigate the mark only if another dispute letter is sent with the requested information. While investigating, the bureau will contact the lender to verify the disputed mark.

The mark must be removed from your credit report by the bureau if the lender cannot verify it. Lenders frequently do not want to spend money and time verifying an noncollectable debt. Therefore, for the best results, we suggest you wait until the lender has received a payment for the outstanding debt.

For instance, the lender has no more use for a charged off credit card account that is sold to a collection agency. As a result, the lender will not take the time to verify the account when they are contacted by the bureau.

It is much easier to remove a charge off once it has been sold rather than outstanding. You can dispute your credit yourself by creating a dispute letter or you can hire a service to dispute it on your behalf.

The benefit of a service is that it provides you with more options to remove a mark if it is confirmed. Services can ask for creditor direct interventions, debt confirmation, escalate dispute information requests, and in severe cases, an attorney can go to court and fight on your behalf.

Your credit score is a very important number, as it impacts your finances, place of employment, residence, and many more. Approximately 25% of Americans have an error on their report and is costing them money in higher interest rates.

In conclusion, you can remove negative items from your credit report and stop paying the high cost of bad credit. This is accomplished by disputing your credit yourself with a dispute letter or by hiring a service to do it for you.