ENSURING AN ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF YOU:
How To Correct Your Credit Report


The first thing that might come to your mind when read the title is: Can I really fix my credit report?

Well, yes. Of course, you can! In fact, you wont even need to hire a professional credit repair agency to do this for you. Hopefully, with the help of this article, you will be able to do it yourself.

Now dont confuse this with totally taking out all the negative feedback on your credit report. While hard-core, high-profile dispute might, just might, eradicate bad information from your report, this is not a general occurrence.

What you can do, however, when you try to fix your credit report is to seek and remedy questionable items and inconsistencies. But, first, request a free copy of your report from the three national credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Trans Union). You read that right you dont have to pay anything. As of January 1, 2004, the credit ratings agencies (CRAs) are required to release one copy of a persons credit report a year. [Getting your credit score is a different story. CRAs usually charge $5.95 for this information.]

Reviewing and getting your credit report fixed is a relatively easy process. However, it requires a lot of patience, as the CRAs are not always instantly cooperative.

Here are the basic steps for DIY credit report fixing:

1. Get your credit report. As said earlier, you can get this for free. Obtain copies from all three bureaus to they check if they all contain the same information about you.

2. Review your report. When the CRAs send your reports, they usually come with a key or a manual of terms and codes to help you understand the jumble of letters and numbers on your credit report. Make three copies. One to send with the dispute letter, one for you to write on with notes, and another to send to the concerned CRA. Do not write on the original copy.

3. List all questionable items from each report and rank them according to the damage the make on your report. Here is a standard ranking:

1. bankruptcy
2. foreclosure
3. repossession
4. loan default
5. court judgments
6. collections
7. past due payments
8. late payments
9. credit rejections
10. credit inquiries

4. Dispute your credit report. Write a dispute letter detailing all the questionable items to the CRA concerned.

5. Send the letter. Send it as certified or registered mail, so you have leverage if the CRA fails to respond within the time frame mandated by law.

6. Document everything you do. Write them all down dates, times, names of people you talked to, what was talked about, etc. These could come in handy when the corrections you requested do not appear as agreed.

7. Be patient and wait. Most processes take up to six months. But the law says, according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1997, that CRAs have only 30 days to come to a conclusion.

8. Study the results. Check the CRAs corrected report and compare it with your notes. If youre still not satisfied with the changes, you can begin the dispute process again. There is no limit to the number of times you can file a dispute letter. You just have to be very patient.