You already know that your credit report is one of the most important documents in your life: It can affect your rates on car loans, mortgages and insurance, and even whether you can qualify for those loans at all. And, unfortunately, once inaccurate information gets on your report, it can be difficult to get it fixed.
Your first step in disputing an error is to contact your credit reporting agency to dispute it. But if the company denies your appeal, what can you do?
Step 1: Record the dispute
Even though your dispute was unsuccessful, you can still go on record saying that you think something is wrong. Tell the credit reporting agency to include a statement of your dispute in your file. You can also ask them to send a copy of that statement to everyone who recently received a copy of your credit report, but you’ll probably have to pay a fee. It’s probably a good idea to let all three credit bureaus know of your dispute, not just the one you’ve been in contact with.
Step 2: Go to the source
Reporting agencies are required to make an investigation (usually within 30 days), unless they consider your dispute to be frivolous. Once the agency instigates the investigation, it’ll contact the organization that provided the information in dispute – for example, the bank that says you missed a payment. The organization must then investigate, review and report all information back to the credit reporting agency. If you’ve reached this stage, you know that the organization has at least looked into your case.
If the credit agency throws out your dispute, you can go directly to the information provider to make your case. If the organization included its address on your credit report, send them copies of all your supporting documents and a summary of why you think your dispute is valid. If it didn’t list an address, contact the organization and ask for the best address to send your materials. Here’s a sample dispute letter you can use.
The organization may decide that it still stands by its information, but even so, it must let the credit reporting agencies know that you’ve submitted a dispute. And if you’re successful and the organization admits it’s made a mistake, it must tell the credit reporting agencies to update or delete the information.
Step 3: Rehab your credit
If you’ve spoken to the organization supplying the information and it still won’t budge, you may be stuck with the black mark on your credit report. At this point, you can start looking at how to improve your score. Here are a few tips on how to get started.
If it’s any consolation, the error won’t stay on your credit report forever. Negative information will stay on your report for at most seven years, though bankruptcies, unpaid judgments, criminal convictions and other serious events may stay on longer. It’s cold comfort, but eventually, diligent payments and time will help erase the mistake’s impact.
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The post My Credit Report Error Dispute Got Rejected. Help appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.
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