Credit report errors can cause your FICO score range to rank lower than what it actually should be. This occurs more often than people realize; 1 out of 5 credit reports has inaccurate information.
Two best way to dispute credit report items are to:
- Write a credit dispute letter or
- File a lawsuit against the credit reporting agency
Credit repair companies can help correct errors on credit reports, but their services may not always be genuine (i.e. not fixing every error on purpose).
Find out if you can boost your FICO score range through disputing errors on your credit report by getting in touch with one of our trusted credit dispute lawyers. The consultation is FREE!
Correcting Errors on Credit Report in 3 Steps
There is a 3-step process in correcting errors on credit reports:
- Checking your most recent credit report,
- Writing a credit dispute letter to credit reporting agencies, and
- Filing a lawsuit against credit bureaus.
Each step is crucial in restoring your credit report to its accurate state.
Check Your Most Recent Credit Report
Checking your most recent credit report allows you to examine it with current information. This way, you can make sure that you include as many errors as you can find on your most current credit report.
Getting a credit report from all three credit bureaus allows you to check if the errors appear across the three main agencies or if an error shows up in one report but not on the other two.
You can obtain a free annual credit report copy from any of the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion at annualcreditreport.com.
Write a Credit Dispute Letter
A credit dispute letter should include all inaccuracies you deem necessary to be corrected in your credit report. Attaching documents that support your claims will help strengthen your letter.
If you need a sample letter to help you write an Equifax credit dispute letter or an Experian dispute, visit this link.
Warning – There are other options to dispute credit report errors now, such as the Experian online dispute system. However, there are limited spaces to write your dispute, and you might have a difficult time providing further explanation for your complaints. Having strong support is crucial to prove your case as investigation-worthy.
Once the credit reporting agency receives your credit dispute letter, they have 30 days to fully investigate and fix any errors they find authentic. Your documents may help hasten the investigation process.
File a Lawsuit Against Credit Bureau
If the credit bureau takes longer or does not respond to your dispute letter within 30 days, you can file a lawsuit against them to correct your credit report.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides guidelines of what the credit reporting agencies and other businesses that report to the agencies. Here are some examples of Fair Credit Reporting Act violations:
- not conducting a reasonable investigation for your dispute,
- failing to correct inaccurate information on your credit report within 30 days of receiving your dispute letter, or
- not updating credit reports with most current information.
As mentioned in the second step, providing sufficient support for your claims is vital to fixing your credit report. Without adequate support, it may be more difficult in court to prove that your claims are investigation-worthy. If the judge decides that your dispute was frivolous, or lacking information to warrant an investigation, errors you wanted to correct will stay on your credit report.
Our credit dispute lawyers will file suit against the credit reporting agency that failed to follow the FCRA guidelines to fix your credit report errors.
Credit Repair Services are Unreliable
There are credit repair services that offer to check errors on your credit report for you and correct them. However, this may only be half true. While credit repair companies will help correct some errors, they might purposely not fix all errors, even if they are aware of them.
This way, consumers will trust the companies for fixing their credit report errors and return for future services. In reality, the companies should have fixed all errors at once.
Avoid credit repair companies. Avoid spending multiple times for a service that should only be done once.
Our credit dispute lawyers have your best interest in mind and work to ensure your credit report is as accurate as possible.
Free Consultation to Reclaim Your Real FICO Score Range
It is time to get your FICO score range to where it belongs. Our credit dispute lawyers will help you write a strong credit report dispute letter and file a lawsuit against the credit reporting agency.
Get in touch with our credit dispute lawyers at (818) 254-8413.
The consultation is FREE!
