Did you know that as many as 2 out of every 3 people find an error on their credit report? If you review your credit report and find any information that’s inaccurate, you should dispute it right away. You can do this by writing a dispute letter and sending it to the credit bureaus and to the creditor that’s reporting inaccurate information.
You may be saying to yourself, “What is a dispute letter?” A dispute letter is a letter letting both the creditor and the credit bureaus know that there’s an error in what’s being reported to the credit bureau and it also serves as a request to have the misinformation be corrected or removed.
Types of Errors on Credit Reports
Credit reports can contain several different types of incorrect information. These include:
- Errors in your personal information, which may include your name, address or social security number
- Wrong total amount owed
- Accounts reported as past due that are current
- Accounts reported as open that have been closed
- Accounts reported as closed that are still open
- Accounts reporting duplicate information, which makes it appear you owe more than you do
- Bankruptcies being reported past 7 to 10 years
- Foreclosures or collections accounts being reported beyond 7 years
You might even find accounts listed on your credit report that don’t belong to you. This could happen because of a clerical error, or it could happen because you’re a victim of identity theft and someone has fraudulently opened one or more accounts in your name.
What Needs to Be Included in a Dispute Letter
A credit dispute letter isn’t difficult to write. The information that should be included is:
- The date you’re writing the letter
- Your contact information
- The account number of the disputed item
- A description of the error, including any documents that can prove that the disputed item is incorrect
Clearly state that the item should be removed from your credit report. You may want to include a copy of the credit report that’s wrong with the disputed information highlighted or circled.
What Happens Once You Send a Dispute Letter?
The credit bureau has to investigate the disputed information within 30 days. They also have to send the information you’re disputing to the company who furnished the inaccurate information, and the data furnisher has to research and report their findings back to the credit bureau. If the investigation results in a change, it has to be reported to all three credit bureaus.
Filing a dispute letter isn’t a guarantee that negative items will be removed from your credit report, but the better your documentation, the better chance it will be corrected. If the negative item is removed, you’ll soon see an improvement in your credit score.
Getting Help with a Dispute Letter
If you’d rather not write a dispute letter, your best bet is to let Dovly take care of it for you. We’re an AI credit engine, and we can track and help you fix and manage your credit. We’ve disputed over 300,000 credit errors, and we can help you get yours corrected too. Try it risk-free with our free membership tier.
