Clean credit is a valuable commodity. It gives you the power to easily get new credit, including loans, credit cards and even mortgages. It also qualifies you for lower interest rates. Some credit blemishes, such as bankruptcy, cannot be removed until the reporting period ends. According to Credit Infocenter, a credit repair self-help site, that period runs from seven to 10 years. You can get others off your credit reports if you use the right process.
Step 1
Use the annualcreditreport.com website to order copies of your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports. Annualcreditreport.com was set up by the government to provide free credit reports every 12 months. Each report might contain different information, so you must order all three to properly clean your credit.
Step 2
Do a line-by-line review of each credit report, highlighting every negative item. Go back through the reports and scrutinize the highlighted entries, searching for type of error. Credit Infocenter recommends looking for things like accounts that are not yours, wrong payment dates and incorrect credit lines or other amounts. Any mistake may allow you to clean the item off your credit reports.
Step 3
Write a letter to each credit bureau listing the mistakes and stating that you are disputing them as allowed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Give the reason for each of your disputes and make a copy of any supporting information, like receipts, statements, checks or money orders, that will prove your point. Tell the bureaus you expect an answer within 30 days, which you are entitled to by the FCRA, and that you want any unverifiable information erased from your reports.
Step 4
Send your letters, credit report copies and copies of your proof via certified mail to each bureau. You can find current mailing addresses for dispute letters on their official websites. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) explains that letters are better than online disputes, because you can send proof and keep copies of the correspondence for your records. The FTC states that you can also prove the date your letter was received at each bureau if you ask for receipts from the post office.
Step 5
Check your records after 30 days to see if the credit bureaus have responded. The FTC explains that they must send you written responses telling you whether the disputed items were verified. Often, lenders will not even respond to verification requests or will be unable to provide documentation for the items. They must then be erased from your report. Your credit will be significantly cleaned if most or all of the disputed information is not verified. You can demand that all disputed items be removed immediately by any bureau that did not respond within the legally allotted time frame.
Tips and Warnings
- You have a right to deal directly with your creditors if they claim to have verified information you still believe is wrong. Send them a dispute directly, Credit Infocenter advises. They have to stop reporting the item if you question it and they cannot give you proof of its accuracy.
- The FTC warns that some credit repair companies will try to charge you high fees to do what you can do yourself for free. It explains that no company can clean legitimate, error-free items off your credit reports. Ignore firms that make unrealistic promises and do the proper dispute process yourself.
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