Ryan asked:


If you’ve recently discovered that that you need to dispute credit report errors, you are not alone. Research shows that 75 percent of credit reports have errors on them, and 1 in 4 credit reports include errors that actually have a negative impact on your credit score. This is no surprise considering that credit report agencies have to manage data for millions of people on a daily bases, and rely on lenders and creditors to provide accurate information.

As a consumer, however, your best interest is protected by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which mandates that if you dispute credit report errors, any information that is erroneous must be acknowledged and removed from your credit report within 30 days.

So how do you go about fixing errors on your credit report? The first thing to do is to access copy of all three of your credit reports from each reporting agency, Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. You will want to compare the information on all three reports since it is likely that some information will be included on one report but not the others.

Once you have reviewed your credit report and found the errors, you will want to contact the credit reporting agencies in writing. Highlight each of the errors on your credit report and attach a copy to your dispute letter. Keep a record of everything you send in case you need to refer to it when following up.

The credit reporting agency is then obligated to contact the credit/lender that indicated the negative information to validate your claim. If the creditor/lender is unable to come up with conclusive evidence that supports their claim, the items will be removed from your credit report and your credit score will immediately improve.

Darren S asked:


I have no credit, and my buddy has bad credit. We are going on a trip in a few months and need to apply online to get a credit card. Mastercard or Visa. Anyone know where?

Barney Garcia asked:


Things are fine till your credit report carries every record with correct information. A slight difference from the original facts and figures will create hues and cries. In turn this will become an issue of dispute. Your credit report will therefore be considered to be a false and fake one with inaccurate statements and misinformation.
When can your credit report be challenged? When you have hidden some information or placed some wrong data that can be purposefully or due to ignorance. This is one way of looking at the dispute of your credit report. Another is related to your own findings that whatever the credit report is saying is not at all related to your credit history. These are the general possibilities of the disputes that arise with the credit report.
What if dispute occurs?
Always remember one thing. If it’s your intentional manipulation of the credit history, troubles will increase for you. Things can be dragged till court. But if it’s the mistake of the concern authority they will be liable to rectify the errors and place them correct. In either ways you will have to proceed stepwise to get things done.
The consumer reporting company which is responsible for the issuing of the credit report comes under the norms of FCRA. Say for instance the mistake lies in your name and all other information is correct. Still your very own credit report won’t be yours with this slight difference. After all the primary identity, the name is wrong.
Again it can happen so that the name is yours but all other information in the credit history is not yours. This can be a case of two persons holding the same name and there has been an interchange in the information by the issuing authority of the credit reports itself. There may be several other reasons as well due to which erroneous reports come up.
Getting out of any such dispute
The Credit Reporting Agency can solve your problem. You will have to take the initiative to get them informed about the disparity in your credit report. Things are to be put clearly in written with convincing testimonials. It will take around thirty days for the investigation and after the final scrutiny a new credit report will be prepared on your name.
This sounds like a smooth process. But for you it might not be so. If the process is lingered, one way is left to help you to carry on with the dispute yet not being challenged by anyone in the credit deal with you. Just request the CRA to attach a copy of the disputed report along with the credit report copy so that whoever comes across it will be aware of the real fact. And this would prevent any sort further hassle till things are rightly placed.