How to Dispute Negative Credit Items

Your credit report is a record of your credit history. It may include the following:

- Your employment
- Your place of residence
- Your history of bill paying – creditors, timeliness, and past due payments
- Whether you have been sued, and when
- Whether you have filed bankruptcy, and when

With such a large amount of important information in one place, errors are possible. It is important to review your credit report regularly since information in a credit report may be used for:

- Mortgage, loan, or other credit applications
- Job applications
- Insurance applications
- Rental applications

To review your credit report for errors and to dispute negative credit items on your report, follow these steps.

Order Your Free Credit Report

You are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months, from each of the three credit bureaus. So, technically, you can get your credit report every 4 months, using a different credit bureau each time. You can visit http://www.annualcreditreport.com to order your free annual report. You can also order reports by phone.

If you have already ordered your free credit report(s) for the year, and need a copy to review, you can pay for a copy of your credit report at one of the three consumer reporting companies:

- http://www.experian.com
- http://www.transunion.com
- http://www.equifax.com

Visit the Federal Trade Commission for additional information on ordering your report.

You may also be entitled to a free report if you are:

- On welfare
- Unemployed, and planning to look for a job within 60 days
- The victim of fraud or identity theft

Report Errors in Writing

Contact the consumer reporting company that you received the report from if you find any errors in your credit report. For each error:

- Explain in writing what is incorrect, and why
- Provide copies of supporting documentation
- Provide a copy of the credit report, with items circled
- Request that the item be removed or corrected
- Keep copies of everything for yourself
- Mail the letter and documentation using certified mail, with a return receipt requested

See the Federal Trade Commission for a sample letter to a consumer reporting company that disputes a negative credit item.

Receive the Consumer Reporting Company Response

The consumer reporting company is likely to respond to you within 30 days. They will contact the information provider who provided the original information in question on your credit report. If the information provider finds the information in error, the provider notifies all three consumer reporting companies.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the consumer reporting company will send you the results of the investigation and a free copy of your credit report. If the information has been corrected, the credit report will reflect the changes. This copy of your credit report does not count as the free annual copy that you are entitled to. You still have the right to get your free annual report, in addition to the copy you receive that reflects the changes.

You may also ask the consumer reporting company to send out corrected credit reports. These go to:

- Anyone who had requested a copy of your credit report in the last six months
- Anyone who had requested a copy of your credit report – for employment purposes – in the last two years

Inform the Original Information Provider of Your Dispute

- You should notify the original information provider (i.e., the creditor or the entity who originally provided the information you are disputing) that you dispute the incorrect information.

- Provide copies of supporting documentation and keep originals.

- If the information provider reports the item in question to a consumer reporting company, the information provider must also report your dispute.

- If the information provider finds that their information is incorrect, they cannot report it again.

Follow-Up if the Dispute Is Not Resolved to Your Satisfaction

If your dispute does not result in corrected information, you have the right to ask for the following:

- Ask that a statement of your dispute becomes part of your credit file and a part of future credit reports.
- Ask that the consumer reporting company send a copy of your statement to anyone who has requested your report recently.

The consumer reporting company may charge a fee for this service.