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STEP-BY-STEP CREDIT CORRECTION
1.Obtain recent copies of your major credit reports as outlined in "Obtaining Copies Of Your Personal Credit Reports".
2.Thoroughly analyze and evaluate your
reports (see "Understanding and Evaluating Your Credit Reports"). Be sure your name, address, social security number, year of birth and employment are current and correct. Flag all negative
items reported and any other discrepancies you find listed.
3.Treat each account separately and decide which method will best suit that account (see "Methods Used For Correcting Your Credit").
Again, we do recommend that any negative items which are yours be audited before disputing it to the credit bureau. Unless you do know for a fact that the information is inaccurate or erroneous. (use the "Account Interpretation Form" in Appendix 3)
4.Assemble the appropriate correspondence to audit, negotiate or dispute any items on your credit reports which need attention.
5.Forward all correspondence using certified mail, return receipt
requested.
You do not want any creditor or credit bureau claiming they did not receive anything. Keep records when mail was received and be sure to retain copies of everything. Allow 4-6 weeks to receive responses.
6a.Auditing an Account
If you do not receive any response to an audit within 4-6 weeks you may consider the account as "unverifiable" and dispute the account to the credit bureau. If you,
the account holder were unable to verify the account, how can the credit bureau.
When a response is received, look to see what the creditor has checked off and/or any comments.
If the creditor has designated that the account is inaccurately reported or was unverifiable, dispute it to the credit bureau. If they respond that the item reported is accurate, follow-up using the negotiating method.
6b.Negotiating or Settling an Account
Write or call your appropriate creditor.
Attempt to discuss your situation directly with the credit manager. Don't take no for an answer. Be sure and request confirmation of your agreement in writing. Once you have resolved the situation, dispute the item with the credit bureau attaching a copy of the confirmation you received from your creditor.
6c.Disputing Your Credit Reports
If you have not disputed every item on your reports in the initial dispute letter, wait until a response is received before filing another dispute of different
accounts.
Again, allow a reasonable period of time (4-6 weeks) for the credit bureaus to respond.
If they do not respond in a timely manner, write back to the credit bureau indicating that they have had more than a reasonable period of time to respond and insist that they remove the disputed items from your file. If you still do not receive any response in another 30 days, write again and let them know that if they refuse to respond immediately, that they have violated federal law and you will take legal action.
Once you do receive a response, analyze what changes or deletions have been made to your report.
Any items which have remained or have been changed to your dissatisfaction, contact your creditor again and attempt another negotiation. If you are unable to get your creditor to remove any derogatory information and the item is being reported accurately, send a consumer statement letter to the bureaus.
6d.Disputing Public Records
When you dispute public records you are either disputing the accuracy of the information being reported. Court records are sometimes difficult for credit bureaus to
verify because of the amount of records on file and the way in which they are stored. In many cases, if the public record is more than 4-5 years old it will be removed.
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