I received many questions on my recent post “Making The Case Against An Electronic Credit Report Dispute Letter“, so I wanted to explain a little further for everyone in this post.
If you’ve been considering repairing your credit with a credit report dispute, you might think that it’s just as simple as pulling your report and hitting the credit bureaus’ websites to report inaccuracies. Piece of cake, right?
This is what the “credit bureaus” want you to believe!!!!
They want you to think that it’s all good and simple to “fix” credit errors, but the truth is that there are some things which you need to know before you get started with a credit report dispute.
So, maybe you’re doubtful and if you’re like the unusual few, you’ve decided that you’re going to proceed no matter what. Good for you!!! Now, if you’re just not sure about embarking on credit repair on your own, these guidelines should be a great starting point for you.
Never assume that submitting a credit report dispute via the online form is a good move.
This sits right at the top of the things you should never do when you’re working to repair your credit. Don’t get sucked in by the “credit bureaus” making you think they want to make it easy for you to submit a credit report dispute.
Here’s the thing, “credit bureaus” are like the lazy older brother; they say stuff about you (some of its true, some of it not so much), then they deny what they have said. This leaves you cleaning up the mess of their “stories” in the first place. The credit bureaus get their information from your creditors and if your creditors are “a little off” with what they report to the bureau most of the time nobody even notices. The “credit bureau” doesn’t check and the creditor doesn’t even realize the mistake.
When you submit a credit report dispute it means that the credit bureau has to put the time and energy it will take into finding out if they do have the right information and this can cost them money.
Stick with me for a second, I’m getting to the point which is that by filing your credit report dispute through the “credit bureau’s” website, you are allowing your issue to be sucked up into the oblivion of credit bureau dispute codes that may leave everything inactive for a very long time.
Never send out any correspondences to creditors or credit bureaus without having a copy of your own. Like any sort of legal transaction, it’s essential to have a paper trail, but in this case it’s more important than ever.
Why? Because the chances are pretty high that the “credit bureau” is going to say, “…the account in question has been verified”. Don’t laugh; that’s really what they say. So, even though you’re wondering who the hell verified it, that’s a pretty standard response.
It’s also important to keep a paper trail because you might be sending and resending your previous correspondence as verifiable proof that you’ve been sending credit report dispute letters the whole time. So do yourself a big favor and make copies of everything.
Never call, email or send another letter to check up on the status of your credit report dispute before 30 days. Yes, this might be tough to do, especially when you’re in a hurry to repair your credit, but trust me, you do not want to have any correspondence with the credit bureau you have sent your credit report dispute to until after the allowed 30 days is up. A good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t received a response by 45 days, send another letter.
The reason you don’t want to contact the “credit bureaus” in between that time is because the “clock” can then reset and this can take your credit report dispute way back and in some cases even prevent it from being reviewed.
Write your letters send them out and wait for about 30 to 45 days and repeat the process if you have to.
Never send your credit report dispute letters by anything other than certified mail. Okay, this really might seem like its common sense and that it will cost you a little extra, but it is well worth it. Certified mail ensures that your letter gets to its intended destination and you have proof of it. Keep the receipt – you might need it later.
Never type your credit report dispute letters. Very simply, this is one of the best ways to have your credit report dispute letters red flagged. When you have a dispute that’s red flagged, the credit bureau will simply send you a letter telling you that it’s “frivolous”, so make sure that you do it the right way and hand write all of your correspondences to the credit bureaus.
When you’re working on repairing your credit on your own, it’s important to make sure that you know what the credit bureaus will do to stop your efforts.
I want to mention a great resource the government has on the credit repair laws. This is from the FTC and it gives their advice on how to repair your credit. If you get a chance, take a look: https://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre13.shtm
My Friend and Loyal Reader – Don’t spin your wheels and let the “credit bureaus” sabotage your efforts just to protect their bottom line.
Know what you shouldn’t do during the credit repair and credit report dispute process and you’ll find that you have better luck with cleaning up your credit report.