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Credit Loan > Free Credit Report > What to Do if You Find Errors On Your Free Credit Report
So, you went to www.annualcreditreport.com and downloaded your free credit report.
But, wait a minute... I never opened an account with that department store, and I never lived at that address either... And, I paid that account off over ten years ago!
Remember, this is one of the reasons you ordered your spiffy new credit report in the first place. With millions of consumers, and billions of accounts to keep track of, it is not unheard of that the credit bureaus will make a mistake now and then... Well, actually it is fairly common unfortunately. So, what do you do now?
First, get your documentation together. You want to have some backup for your claims to the credit bureaus. That is credit bureau(S) plural... Yes, you will have to deal with each one individually as they probably do not even get all your information from the same place. Once you have retrieved all the supporting documentation that you can, make copies-- never send original documents to the bureaus. Explain in a separate letter to each of the credit reporting agencies what information you are disputing.
They have 30 days from receiving the dispute to either correct the information, or remove it from your credit report. So, send your letter with copies of the supporting documentation by certified mail, so you will have a record of when they received your dispute. If the bureaus investigation results in a change to your credit report they are required to send you another free report. If you request it, they also have to send the updated report to anyone who has requested it in the last six months, or the last two years if it was for employment purposes. If your dispute is still unresolved, they have to include a record of your dispute in the report.
You will want to repeat this process with the information provider that reported the information to the bureaus. Banks, credit card companies, and other accounts should have an address for you to send disputes. In order for them to report a dispute to the bureaus they must supply a written record.
There... Easy right?
Credit Report Blunders
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But, wait a minute... I never opened an account with that department store, and I never lived at that address either... And, I paid that account off over ten years ago!
Remember, this is one of the reasons you ordered your spiffy new credit report in the first place. With millions of consumers, and billions of accounts to keep track of, it is not unheard of that the credit bureaus will make a mistake now and then... Well, actually it is fairly common unfortunately. So, what do you do now?
First, get your documentation together. You want to have some backup for your claims to the credit bureaus. That is credit bureau(S) plural... Yes, you will have to deal with each one individually as they probably do not even get all your information from the same place. Once you have retrieved all the supporting documentation that you can, make copies-- never send original documents to the bureaus. Explain in a separate letter to each of the credit reporting agencies what information you are disputing.
They have 30 days from receiving the dispute to either correct the information, or remove it from your credit report. So, send your letter with copies of the supporting documentation by certified mail, so you will have a record of when they received your dispute. If the bureaus investigation results in a change to your credit report they are required to send you another free report. If you request it, they also have to send the updated report to anyone who has requested it in the last six months, or the last two years if it was for employment purposes. If your dispute is still unresolved, they have to include a record of your dispute in the report.
You will want to repeat this process with the information provider that reported the information to the bureaus. Banks, credit card companies, and other accounts should have an address for you to send disputes. In order for them to report a dispute to the bureaus they must supply a written record.
There... Easy right?
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