Disputing Credit Reporting Errors

Your credit report--a type of consumer report--contains information about where you work and live and how you pay your bills. It also may show whether you've been sued or arrested or have filed for bankruptcy. Companies called Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) or Credit Bureaus compile and sell your credit report to businesses. Because businesses use this information to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, and other purposes allowed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), it's important that the information in your report is complete and accurate.

Some financial advisors suggest that you periodically review your credit report for inaccuracies or omissions. This could be especially important if you're considering making a major purchase, such as buying a home. Checking in advance on the accuracy of information in your credit file could speed the credit-granting process.

Getting Your Credit Report
If you've been denied credit, insurance, or employment because of information supplied by a CRA, the FCRA says the company you applied to must give you the CRA's name, address, and telephone number. If you contact the agency for a copy of your report within 60 days of receiving a denial notice, the report is free. In addition, you're entitled to one free copy of your report a year if you certify in writing that (1) you're unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days, (2) you're on welfare, or (3) your report is inaccurate because of fraud. Otherwise, a CRA will charge you for a copy of your report.

If you simply want a copy of your report, call the CRAs listed in the Yellow Pages under "credit" or "credit rating and reporting." Call each credit bureau listed since more than one agency may have a file on you, some with different information. The three major national credit bureaus are:

• Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241; (800) 685-1111.  www.equifax.com
• Experian (formerly TRW), P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013; (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742). www.experian.com  
• Trans Union, P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022; (800) 916-8800.  www.transunion.com

Can I get my free credit report online?
Not really.  The credit bureaus realized there is money to be made by selling your credit report to you for a small fee, rather than give it away.  If you're looking for your free Equifax credit report, it's not going to happen unless you're enrolled in a credit monitor service. The only time you'll ever get your credit report free is when you are rejected for credit, and the creditor who rejected you is required to give you a free copy of your credit report.  But it's not usually a good thorough credit report from one of the big 3, it's usually some bare bones report from some no name company that runs cheapie credit reports, and you get no credit score either, so they are almost useless.  Don't be so cheap, pay the few bucks and get your real credit report.  There is another way to get your "free credit report".  When you sign up to credit monitoring services such as Consumerinfo and  TrueCredit  you can usually get your free credit report online any time you like.  Check with each company to find out.

What happened to the TRW Credit Bureau?  Why can't I get a TRW free credit report?
TRW sold its credit reporting business in 1996 to Experian.   You can no longer get TRW credit reports. TRW credit reporting agency no longer exists to provide TRW credit reports. This also means no more TRW free credit reports for you and I. TRW at one time gave us our TRW free credit report once a year by written request.  Many people erroneously still think TRW does this. Experian, after buying TRW credit, is one of the Big 3 credit bureaus, the other 2 are Equifax and Trans Union.

Correcting Errors
Under the FCRA, both the CRA and the organization that provided the information to the CRA, such as a bank or credit card company, have responsibilities for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report. To protect all your rights under the law, contact both the CRA and the information provider.

First, tell the CRA in writing what information you believe is inaccurate. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request deletion or correction. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Your letter may look something like the sample below. Send your letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document what the CRA received. Keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures.

CRAs must reinvestigate the items in question--usually within 30 days--unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward all relevant data you provide about the dispute to the information provider. After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the CRA, it must investigate, review all relevant information provided by the CRA, and report the results to the CRA. If the information provider finds the disputed information to be inaccurate, it must notify all nationwide CRAs so they can correct this information in your file. l Disputed information that cannot be verified must be deleted from your file.

• If your report contains erroneous information, the CRA must correct it.
• If an item is incomplete, the CRA must complete it. For example, if your file showed that you were late making payments, but failed to show that you were no longer delinquent, the CRA must show that you're current.
• If your file shows an account that belongs only to another person, the CRA must delete it.

When the reinvestigation is complete, the CRA must give you the written results and a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or removed, the CRA cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies its accuracy and completeness, and the CRA gives you a written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider.

Also, if you request, the CRA must send notices of corrections to anyone who received your report in the past six months. Job applicants can have a corrected copy of their report sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years for employment purposes. If a reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, ask the CRA to include your statement of the dispute in your file and in future reports.

Second, in addition to writing to the CRA, tell the creditor or other information provider in writing that you dispute an item. Again, include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider then reports the item to any CRA, it must include a notice of your dispute. In addition, if you are correct-that is, if the disputed information is not accurate-the information provider may not use it again. Accurate Negative Information When negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage of time can assure its removal. Accurate negative information can generally stay on your report for 7 years. There are certain exceptions:

• Information about criminal convictions may be reported without any time limitation.
• Bankruptcy information may be reported for 10 years.
• Credit information reported in response to an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limit.
• Credit information reported because of an application for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limit.
• Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer. Criminal convictions can be reported without any time limit.

You never want to see the words "Charge Off" on your credit report!
If you failed to pay a bill to a creditor and they called you but never got any money from you, they write it off as a loss and label it a "Charge Off" on your credit report.  This is one of the worst things in the world for you and even if your score is decent, most lenders will reject you if they see a charge off in your credit profile.  This is because Charge Off means loser! Deadbeat!  Someone who never paid their bills.  If this appears on your report, do whatever you can to get it off.   Don't contact the credit bureau, they can't do anything about it.  You must contact the creditor who put it there, and negotiate with them to remove it by paying them back.

In reviewing your credit report you may have come across inaccuracies or black marks on your payment history.  Some of the most common inaccuracies are current employer or salary.  These must be corrected if you expect to be approved for credit based on your current income.  There may be an error on your report which is causing you a bad credit rating even though you do not deserve it.  On the other hand your bad credit rating might be accurate.  Either way there are actions that you can take to restore your credit. 

Adding Accounts to Your File
Your credit file may not reflect all your credit accounts. Although most national department store and all-purpose bank credit card accounts will be included in your file, not all creditors supply information to CRAs: Some travel, entertainment, gasoline card companies, local retailers, and credit unions are among those creditors that don't. If you've been told you were denied credit because of an "insufficient credit file" or "no credit file" and you have accounts with creditors that don't appear in your credit file, ask the CRA to add this information to future reports. Although they are not required to do so, many CRAs will add verifiable accounts for a fee. You should, however, understand that if these creditors do not report to the CRA on a regular basis, these added items will not be updated in your file.

Tips

Many people are scared because they don't know what's on their credit report or how it will affect their chances for a good deal.  Car dealers use this to their advantage because almost everyone has a bad mark on their report. How often does this happen: You get an erroneous notice from a credit card or bank saying "we never got your check".  You call them up, find out it's their mistake, no problem.  But many people are shocked to find out this error made it onto their credit report! Here are some other scenarios that can put black marks on your credit report without you knowing it:

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