Here is a lawyer’s secret to dispute credit report errors, so pay close attention. The first step is to get a copy of your credit report from one of the credit bureaus. Upon reviewing your report these are the errors to look for. The first one is called a mixed file. This is where someone who has accounts reporting on their credit reports that belong to someone else. Usually this occurs among family members with similar names and social security numbers.
The second most common type of error is identity theft. This is where someone steals your personal identification and applies for loans in your name. A way to combat this is to file a police or FBI report identifying the theft and to file an identity theft affidavit with the Federal Trade Commission.
The last type of common error is where the account did belong to you but it is reporting inaccurately. This could be the account was previously paid, closed, is older than seven (7) years, appears multiple times or is showing an incorrect balance. For these accounts you need to obtain some type of document showing the inaccuracy. This could be a paid receipt, old statement from the creditor or a bank statement.
Once you identified the error you will need to obtain some document showing the inaccuracies. The next step is to write a well written dispute letter to the credit bureaus explaining and proving the error with these documents. The dispute letter needs to list the account you are disputing, explain what the credit error is and to reference the documents showing the error and finally to explain who the bureaus need to contact to verify this error or what they need to investigate your dispute. Make sure you mail the dispute letter to the credit bureau via tracking. The bureaus have thirty (30) days to respond. You need to save the bureaus response to you as well as the proof of tracking and the dispute letter you mailed to them.
If the credit bureaus fail to modify or delete the account you are disputing to your satisfaction then they have violated the law. Call us at Cook Law for a free consultation. We are happy to assist you in the credit dispute process or to file a lawsuit on your behalf if the bureaus are not fixing their credit reporting error.
Identify vital information on dispute credit report errors. Visit https://www.cooklawyerllc.com/credit-report-attorney-we-help-dispute-credit-report-errors/ to know more about errors on credit report.