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Do you have a bad credit report? Finding out that you have an ugly splotch on your near perfect credit report (or perhaps a whole splatter of bad ink) can be very troublesome. What can you do to fix your bad credit report? By now, you have already taken the first step, which is to closely analyze your credit report and compare the credit information to your own records.
If you still deduce that there is an error on your bad credit report, then it is time to start contacting consumer reporting agencies and finding out what the problem is. The consumer reporting agency representative will probably tell you that you still owe some money from a purchase or authorization from several months back. They will usually read back a record of this transaction so as to refresh your memory. It is then up to you to either pay the bill off or officially dispute this charge.
If you choose to dispute the charges, you can write to the consumer reporting agency and include any and all documentation that can possibly prove your case. Be sure to send copies of all these documents and include a detailed letter explaining the issue. The letter should also include your full name and address, along with each item you are disputing, and the reason for doing so. You can also include a copy of your bad credit report with the item circled for easy communication.
The letter you write to the consumer reporting agency should be sent by certified mail so you can document when the consumer reporting agency receives it. Once again, send copies and keep all of the original items for yourself as references. The good news is that if the item in disputes is found to be inaccurate, the consumer reporting agency cannot report the same debt again. Remember that the obligation of checking a bad credit report falls upon you. In many cases, the failure to be aware of a credit error for over a year’s time disqualifies any disputes options. Therefore, it pays to be thorough and to keep regularly updated as to what is being reported about you.
If you have a bad credit report for reasons that are your own, it is never too late to go about fixing it. Contact each consumer reporting agency and find out what can be done to rectify the report. For more information on fixing your credit report, look up “repair credit” online.