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How to Dispute an Error on Your Credit Report

By: Daniel Rosen Last updated: April 18, 2024

Your credit report is more than just a document — it's a reflection of your financial reliability.

But what happens when this crucial report isn't accurate?

Correcting errors on your credit report isn't just a matter of accuracy, it's an important step in protecting your financial health and putting you in the best position to make life's big purchases.

Whether it's a mortgage, a car loan, or securing lower interest rates, the stakes couldn't be higher.

This blog post is your comprehensive guide to disputing errors on your credit report. I'll walk you through the whole process, from identifying inaccuracies to navigating the dispute process with credit bureaus. Plus everything in between.

The goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to make sure your credit report accurately reflects your financial history. 

I’ve split the guide into a few useful sections:

  1. Understanding credit report errors

  2. The impact of errors on your credit score

  3. How to identify errors on your credit report

  4. The process of disputing credit report errors

  5. What to do after filing a dispute

By the end of this article, you'll be equipped to take control of your credit score, correct any errors, and potentially improve your financial standing.


Understanding Credit Report Errors

The key to maintaining a healthy financial profile is ensuring the accuracy of your credit report.

But what exactly makes up a credit report error?

In simple terms, these errors can range from minor inaccuracies to significant issues that could unfairly affect your credit score. They are mistakes or omissions that do not accurately reflect your actual credit history.

Common types of inaccuracies found on credit reports include:

  • Personal Information Errors: Mistakes in your name, address, Social Security number, or employment information. These might seem minor, but they can lead to mix-ups with someone else's credit information.

  • Account-Related Errors: These include accounts mistakenly reported as late or delinquent, incorrect account balances, or accounts you didn't open (which could be a sign of identity theft).

  • Data Management Errors: These occur when payments are applied to the wrong accounts or when the same debt is listed more than once (possibly under different names).

  • Balance Errors: Showing an incorrect current balance or credit limit can negatively affect your credit utilization ratio, a key component of your credit score.

Identifying and correcting these errors is crucial. They can lead to unjustly low credit scores, affecting your ability to secure loans, obtain favorable interest rates, or even impact job opportunities.

(More on that, shortly)

So, by understanding what to look for, you're taking the first step towards safeguarding your financial health and ensuring your credit report accurately represents your financial history.

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The Impact of Errors on Your Credit Score

If you want to improve or repair your credit, it's crucial to understand the impact of these errors on your credit score.

Even seemingly small inaccuracies can have big consequences, leading to an unjustly low credit score.

This will affect your ability to secure loans, qualify for lower interest rates, and even influence your job prospects. Here's why regular monitoring of your credit report is not just important—it's essential:

1. Higher Interest Rates: Errors on your credit report can lead to higher interest rates on loans and credit cards, costing you more money in the long run.

2. Loan Approval Challenges: Inaccuracies can decrease your credit score, making it harder to get approved for loans, including mortgages, car loans, or personal loans.

3. Insurance Premiums: Some insurance companies use credit scores to determine premiums. A lower score could mean paying more for auto or homeowners insurance.

4. Employment Opportunities: Employers in many industries check credit reports as part of the hiring process. Errors that lower your score could impact your job prospects.

Regular monitoring of your credit report allows you to identify and dispute any inaccuracies promptly, helping to maintain or improve your credit score.

By taking control of your credit report, you're not just protecting your financial health — you're opening doors to new opportunities and making sure you're viewed accurately by lenders, insurers, and employers.

How to Identify Errors on Your Credit Report

Identifying errors on your credit report is the first step towards correcting them and improving your credit score.

The first thing you need to do is obtain your credit reports.

You're entitled to a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — once every 12 months.

But reading through all three of these separately is a hassle.

For a more streamlined approach, you can use Credit Repair Cloud to view all your reports from the major bureaus in one place. This simplifies the process of comparing and identifying discrepancies across multiple reports.

Once you've got them all in Credit Repair Cloud, you need to review your reports carefully. Look for common inaccuracies such as incorrect personal information, accounts that don’t belong to you, errors in account status, and incorrect balances or credit limits.

You should pay special attention to any derogatory marks that shouldn't be there.

As you go through these, it's important to keep detailed reports, too. As you review your credit reports, keep detailed records of any inaccuracies you find. Note the account numbers, dates, and specific details of the errors. This documentation will be crucial when you initiate disputes with the credit bureaus or creditors.

Note: There are plenty of things you should dispute, but there are also a few things you shouldn't.

The Process of Disputing Credit Report Errors

Navigating the dispute process with credit bureaus can feel overwhelming, but it's an important step in correcting inaccuracies on your credit report.

Here's a step-by-step guide to ensure you're well-equipped to tackle this process confidently:

Step 1: Gather Your Evidence

Before you initiate a dispute, gather all necessary documentation that supports your claim. This could include bank statements, letters from creditors, or any other relevant information that proves an error exists on your credit report.

Step 2: Write Your Dispute Letter

Crafting a clear and concise dispute letter is key. We provide some free templates here you can use, but your letter should include the following:

  • Your Personal Information: Clearly state your full name, address, and contact information.

  • Identify the Error: Specify the exact error you're disputing, including account numbers and details as listed on your credit report.

  • Provide Evidence: Attach copies (not originals) of any documents that support your dispute.

  • Request a Correction: Clearly state that you're requesting the error to be corrected or removed from your credit report.

Remember, the goal of your letter is to make it as easy as possible for the credit bureau to understand and investigate your dispute.

Step 3: Send Your Dispute

Send your dispute letter by certified mail with a return receipt requested. This ensures you have a record that the credit bureau received your dispute. You should send a separate letter to each credit bureau that's reporting the error.

Step 4: Wait for the Investigation

Credit bureaus are required by law to investigate disputes within 30 days. They'll review your claim and the documentation provided, consult the creditor involved, and then decide whether to update your credit report.

Step 5: Review the Outcome

After the investigation, the credit bureau will send you the results. If your dispute is successful, the error will be corrected. If not, you have the right to add a statement to your credit report explaining your dispute.

What to Do After Filing a Dispute

Once you've reviewed the outcome of your dispute, you then need to decide what to do next.

If the dispute is resolved, that's awesome. But you still need to review the correction to make sure it's been fixed correctly.

You should continue to monitor your credit reports regularly, to check the correction is accurate and no new errors have appeared.

You should also keep a copy of the bureaus decision and any correspondence for your records. This can be useful in case any issues come up again in the future.

On the other hand, if your dispute hasn't been resolved, that doesn't mean you're out of options.

You should analyze the bureau's response, trying to understand why the dispute wasn't resolved. The credit bureau has to include an explanation in their response, which should make this clear.

If you disagree with what they've said, you should try to gather more evidence to support your claim.

You then have the right to dispute the error again, especially if you can provide additional information or documents you didn't include in your first dispute.

Frequently Asked Questions about Disputing Errors

How much does it cost to dispute an error on your credit report?

Disputing an error on your credit report is completely free of charge. It will only cost you money if you need the support of a credit repair expert or solicitor.

Is it illegal to dispute accurate information on your credit report?

Disputing accurate information on your credit report is not illegal, but it is generally considered unethical and unlikely to result in a change to your report.

What is the 609 loophole?

The 609 loophole refers to a strategy where consumers request verification of the information on their credit report under Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, potentially leading to the removal of unverifiable information.

Will disputing hurt my score?

Disputing an error on your credit report will not negatively affect your credit score. 

What you should do now?

 

 

 

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Topics: Podcast

Transcript

0:00  

Hey, I've got a question for you. But it's kind of a hush-hush topic. So come in close. Okay. Are you listening? Have you heard of the magic 609 dispute letter guaranteed to erase any negatives on your credit score? And did you know if you wear red sox when you send in your letter, you have a better chance at getting an item removed? Oh, and don't forget to write all your letters in all different fonts. So the credit bureaus get confused and don't throw them out. And one last thing. Come in real close for this one. Are you listening? None of that is true. It's all a bunch of hooey. It's credit repair old wives' tales. In this episode, I'm going to tell you the truth about what works and what doesn't so you'll never be duped by another troll on Facebook or an overnight credit repair guru ever again. So stick around. 

 

So the big question is this, how can we take our passion for helping people with their credit and turn it into a successful business without taking loans without spending a fortune by bootstrapping it from nothing, so we can help the most people and still become highly profitable? That is the question and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Daniel Rosen, and welcome to Credit Repair Business Secrets.

 

How many of these crazy old wives tales have you heard? How about this one, you'll get way better results by tricking the credit bureaus. Yeah, go ahead and write your dispute letters in different fonts and different colors or use different colored paper or use a word spinner to confuse the bureaus, and this way their automated system won't be able to flag it. Wrong! Nothing could be further from the truth. Every single dispute letter is handled the very same way, no matter how it looks or what it says the bureaus they are looking to identify the error and reason why it is wrong, period. Or how about this one, the magical 609 letter. People sell this totally useless letter that claims that by asking for proof that the bureaus can't provide that you get an automatic deletion. This is a scam. And the actual section of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that relates to your rights. It's not even numbered 609 it's section 611. But even then, the myth that they are selling is totally bogus. Don't fall for this nonsense. Oh, or have you ever seen what happens when you do a quick Google search for fast credit repair? If you do, you'll find thousands of results from companies claiming that they can increase your score to over 800 overnight and remove anything and everything from your credit. Is this true? No chance hit takes nearly two or three decades of good credit history and great habits to get above an 800 score. So don't trust anybody that says otherwise. Just because someone wrote it on the internet does not make it true. Credit Repair isn't about tricking the system. It's not an overnight Miracle Cure, and there is no magic dispute letter. It's about using the law in your favor and stating facts. It's about being persistent and never taking no for an answer. It's about educating your clients and empowering them to live within their means and to be responsible. And it's about doing a service to your community. Yes, you can often remove negative items that are accurate, but not with gimmicks. It just takes work. The fact is our most successful Credit Heroes, the ones who quit their nine to five job, make a six-figure income and even our Millionaire's club members. They don't pay attention to old wives’ tales, because they know they don't work. Here's why this is important. The pros, they all understand that half the job is educating your clients to pay down balances. Generally speaking, the more available credit you have, the better your score will be. So keep your credit card utilization down as low as possible, like never spend more than 30% of the available credit line and advise your clients to stop applying for anything unless of course they have no credit and they need to establish some in the grand scheme of things. The only credit bureaus that matter are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Any service that offers try and merge reports scores and credit monitoring is a reseller of data from those same three bureaus. The only reason credit scores might vary from one credit monitoring service to the next is because they sometimes use different scoring models which has have different algorithms, and they calculate the scores differently. But scores shouldn't really matter to you scores are irrelevant. What really matters is that you correct the errors. That's what you're being paid to do, and to educate the client to change their habits so they don't end up in trouble again. And if you just do those two things, the scores going to increase. Okay, so here's what you really need to know. The only things that matter are these facts. If you can identify the error and have any supporting documentation at all. Just state the facts and point to the evidence, don't get carried away and dispute too many items all at once. The experts, they all agree that disputing no more than five items per month per bureau will get you consistent. positive results. In fact, the biggest credit repair company in the world. I don't want to say their name out loud, but their initials are Lexington Law. Well, they only dispute two or three items a month. I think five is good. Some people send more and that's okay. But if you're just starting out, my advice is - take it slow. Okay, it because if you're not careful here, and if you send too many disputes all at once, there's a very high chance that your disputes will get flagged as frivolous. And that can really slow down your progress. Be prepared for the credit bureaus and the furnishers to ignore you, to give you cringe-worthy responses, and to do everything within their power to convince you that they are not going to budge. That's their job. So this is expected okay, but credit repair. It's A fight that you cannot back down from, okay, you've got to be persistent and apply constant pressure, your clients are counting on you. So give them hell. If your disputes come back as verified, don't give up, you can send a warning, you can request the method of verification, you can file a complaint, or you can go directly to the furnisher and demand validation. And if that doesn't work, you can always start over at the beginning and you may get different results. Okay, you will truly be amazed at how just a little bit of persistence and pressure can move mountains. In the end, the truth is the color of the ink the style of a font, a magic letter, or the color of your socks or what you had for breakfast. They have zero bearing on your success. It's your knowledge And your determination that will really move the needle, just like it did for one of our Millionaires Club members. Samuel Naquin. Okay. Samuel is from Austin, Texas. He has a passion for educating people in his community, beyond just the deletions and corrections. He serves over 1000 clients every month. And he serves them by helping them to understand that if they've gotten rejected on a whole-blown, it's not a No, it's just not right now. And he knows that he can truly change lives by educating people on things they can do differently, to help increase their score, and to really make their dreams come true. And he does it without gimmicks, without tricks. Just results for his client. We love Samuel and he's doing an amazing job out there in Texas. So if you're just starting your business, and you're finding yourself trapped by all these crazy ideas about how to trick the system, and if you want to know how to do battle with the credit bureaus and the debt collectors, and actually win we've got a program that will not only certify you in disputing, but it will also give you hyper-focused attention as we hold you by the hand while you launch your credit repair business. It's called the Credit Hero Challenge. And I want to invite you to join today. And if you're finding value in the things I'm sharing on this podcast, click below to subscribe because I don't want you to miss any episodes. And if you're feeling kind, rate me and give me a review because this is a new podcast and I can use all the help I can get. And if you have a question or comment, leave it down below, I will answer it. Okay? And I will see you on the next episode. So until then, keep changing lives. 

 

Hey, everybody, it's Daniel again. And really quick, I'd like to invite you to join what I believe is the best thing we have ever created inside the Credit Repair Cloud Community. And it is a challenge that we call the Credit Hero Challenge. If you're just planning out your business or you're just getting started, and you dream of having a successful business your own, so you can quit your nine to five and fire your boss and have financial freedom, or so you can add another revenue stream to your existing business, if that's your dream, you need to get into this challenge. We created this challenge to help you to create and launch your very own credit repair business. To build a proper foundation for a really successful business. This challenge is going to help you to understand the strategy, the tactics and all the things you need to be successful at credit repair. It really is the greatest thing we have ever built, and it will change your life. So I recommend you do it right now. Stop everything, pause this audio, go online, and go to creditherochallenge.com. That's creditherochallenge.com and join the next challenge. And there's a challenge that's starting in just a few days. So go get started right now at creditherochallenge.com.

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