Fixing Credit Report Errors - You have the right, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to dispute the completeness and accuracy of information in your credit file. When a credit reporting agency receives a dispute, it must reinvestigate and record the current status of the disputed items within a "reasonable period of time," unless it believes the dispute is "frivolous or irrelevant." If the credit reporting agency cannot verify a disputed item, it must delete it. If your report contains erroneous information, the credit reporting agency must correct it. If an item is incomplete, the credit reporting agency must complete it.

You are allowed by law to obtain a copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three credit bureaus free of charge. Along with your credit report there will be a dispute form for correcting any erroneous information.

If you are unable to spend the time to write the letters yourself then you might want to hire a credit repair company to do this for you. They will act on your behalf to write the necessary letters to the 3 credit bureaus. There are many companies to choose from these days and it might be in your best interest to consult with your Mortgage Broker as to which company will give you the best service.

Prior to applying for a mortgage fixing all credit report errors will optimize your chances of obtaing the best financing terms available.

Under The Fair Credit Reporting Act effective October 1, 1997, a credit reporting agency has 5 days from the date of receipt of a written investigation request to contact the appropriate credit grantor about investigation the complaint(s) and receive a reply back within 30 days of the original notification date. Within 5 business days after the completion of the investigation, the credit bureau (ie: Equifax,Transunion,Experian) must send a written report to the consumer with its findings with a copy of the revised report if there were any changes made.

If a credit bureau can not verify that a disputed item is correct as reported, it must modify or remove it from the consumers' file. If the tradeline confirms a a later date that the information was indeed correct, the credit bureau will add the information back into the consumers' file. It will notify the consumer in writing as to the changes, within 5 days of the change.

DO NOT expect information to be deleted just becsue a collection account or debt has been paid. Derogatory items will remain on you report for 7 years. The 7 year clock on a derogatory item falling off your report does not start until the item has been satisfied.

The consumer must write a letter of dispute regarding the erroneous information reported by a specific credit reporting agency. The letter must reference;
Your full name
Address
Social Security number
The tradline
Account numbers
Brief statement of what is incorrect.
Copies of supporting documents (if any)
The letter MUST be sent by overnight mail, with return receipt requested. This verifies when the 30 day clock starts ticking.

When disputing questionable items in a credit report, always remember to dispute with all three major credit bureau agencies. When applying for a mortgage, all lenders look at items reported by all three credit bureaus.

Credit reporting is an imperfect system and there are times when you're credit is tainted and it's not your fault. Equifax, Experian, and Transunion don't always report the same information.

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