Contact the lender directly to request another review. Be professional and persistent, and be prepared to present your situation from the first point of contact.
If the dispute is regarding debt collection that you disagree with, it is best to communicate directly with the collections agency and come to a settlement agreement.
If it also involves removing a derogatory statement which you believe is incorrect, file a dispute with the three credit reporting agencies, if you haven’t already.
Keep accessible records of all written correspondence, copies of emails, and notes from every chat and/or phone conversation. Make note of date, time, and to whom you have spoken every time contact is made.
It is essential that consumers do not rely on the customer representatives to keep accurate records, since it is very likely that they do not have access to the same information.
Some may have only limited access to account history and prior decisions. They may be aware of the current status, for example, but not necessarily the entire communication history.
The process can be frustrating because the conversations are often repeated whenever a new customer agent becomes involved. But it is important to remain calm and respectful.
Remember the agent is your best advocate when requesting review of a dispute decision. Only request to speak to a supervisor if the issue is not resolved in your favor.
What are reasons to dispute your credit report?
Here are a few of the most common errors and inaccuracies consumers come across in their credit reports and form the basis for their disputes:
- Personal information
- name
- former name
- address
- birth date
- misspellings
- Account information
- account ownership
- account status
- payment activity
- delinquency
- default
- collections
- duplicate accounts
- derogatory information
- Fraudulent activity resulting from identity theft
- accounts opened using consumer’s personal information
- unapproved account usage
- authorized user shown as account owner
How do I dispute my credit report?
Determine exactly what you want to dispute
Requesting a creditor review is generally the same process no matter the type of dispute.
Whatever the error or inaccuracy is that you are disputing, it is important to be clear and specific about why it is inaccurate and how it needs to be corrected.
For example, a consumer may have an older account that shows a balance charged off or turned over to collections (debt collection company).
The consumer may believe the account is not their responsibility and should be removed from the credit report.
Submit a dispute with the original lender or creditor for a review
Often these types of disputes happen when verbal agreements are made. For example, post-divorce between former spouses outside of information included in the divorce papers.
An ex-spouse may verbally commit to paying the balance on the past due credit card when they receive their bonus and on the condition that the consumer will take care of the school fees for the next three months.
Later down the track, the consumer is then made aware that the account has been turned into collections.
At this point, a dispute should be put to the lender. Mention that it was the responsibility of the ex-spouse to handle the unpaid balance based on a verbal agreement.
Regardless, the dispute will most likely continue to be denied because according to both the account agreement and the divorce decree, the consumer (not the ex-spouse) remains responsible.
In other scenarios, perhaps you were the victim of identity fraud where someone opened a credit card in your name, the result of which is a statement that appears in your credit report indicating that you have delinquent credit issues.
You should file a police report with your dispute as this will strengthen your case.
Submit another dispute if you disagree with the resolution
If you disagree with the initial dispute resolution, you are encouraged to submit another dispute.
However, keep in mind that without additional documentation, you may end up with an identical result.
Try to reach a settlement with the debt collection agency
If all else fails, and your debt has been turned over to a debt collection company, you have little recourse but to negotiate with them.
In our example, the consumer should attempt to settle the debt that the ex-spouse refused to pay despite the verbal guarantee.
A consumer may agree to an account settlement, which allows them to pay off and close the account for less money than is owed.
As part of this agreement, the consumer can also request the account to be deleted from the consumer’s credit report.
This can be organized with all three agencies after the payment is finalized.
File a dispute with all 3 credit bureaus
Inaccuracies could arise from unknown debt that has been charged off, delinquencies due to identity theft (such as someone opening a disaster loan under your name or unauthorized hard inquiries), or even the possibility of having collections being removed from one bureau but not the others.
If you are to increase your chances of cleaning up your credit report from such derogatory remarks that you are ultimately not responsible for, ensure that you file a dispute with each agency.
Attach the same supporting evidence when submitting your dispute so that each agency conducts an independent investigation with the original creditor using this information.
Once the original creditor is able to verify or deny the dispute of the inaccuracy, they can then provide the same notice with the results of the investigation to each credit agency.
This ensures a more consistent outcome between all agencies.
Wait for the dispute outcome
Once the credit agency has concluded their dispute investigation, a notice will be provided with the results of the investigation, which can be either of the following:
- The derogatory statement was inaccurate
- The credit agency have ruled that your dispute was successful and that the credit report should be updated to remove the remark.
- They will need to delete it from their reports and communicate to the lender or collection authority that it should no longer be reported.
- The derogatory statement was accurate
- In this case, the the credit agency found that the remark, which was the subject of the dispute, is in fact accurate and should remain on your credit report.
- This may result in another statement being added onto your credit report, “meets FCRA requirements“, which indicates that the disputed statement satisfies regulatory guidelines according to the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act).
- Beware that filing another dispute to appeal the decision may or may not fall in your favor depending on any new supporting evidence presented.
- It may result in the same resolution which would add yet another statement to your credit report, along the lines of “consumer disputes after resolution“.
- The derogatory statement could not be verified
- The credit agency could not verify that the statement could be justified based on the evidence presented.
- In this case, they would delete the statement in the credit report and request the lender or collection authority to discontinue reporting it.
Formalize any agreement in writing
If you are able to avoid court proceedings and come to an agreement with your lender, credit issuer or debt collector, ensure you obtain everything in writing.
Similarly, if you have come to a favorable outcome with the credit agency, ensure the resolution is made formal on paper.
If the agreement is made verbally or online, it is important to receive confirmation emails and/or mailed hard copies prior to the first payment’s due date.
Understand the terms of the agreement fully, and ask questions if anything is unclear.
If you are settling a debt, the consumer should not authorize the lender or debt collector to initiate a payment withdrawal from their bank account.
The consumer should remain in control of their money and only initiate payment when the written agreement has been reviewed and acknowledged.
Contact a credit repair agency
Regardless of dispute type, circumstances may prevent a consumer and lender reaching a favorable agreement, or perhaps the credit agencies ruled the dispute in favor of the lender.
If any case, the consumer may wish to add a consumer statement to their credit report explaining why an error or inaccuracy, such as a derogatory statement, shouldn’t be present.
This can be done by contacting any of the three credit bureaus – Experian, Transunion, and Equifax.
Otherwise, it is then possible for a consumer to take the matter further by hiring a credit repair agency to negotiate on their behalf.
Credit repair agencies are essentially businesses set up with the specific purpose of acting as an intermediary between:
- Consumer: who wishes to remove or correct information on their credit report, and
- Creditor: who reports the information
Bear in mind that these agencies will initiate a process of inquiry and negotiation that a consumer can do for free.
Credit repair agencies however, may produce faster results since they regularly negotiate with creditors on behalf of consumers, and are very familiar with how particular lenders are willing to engage and settle derogatory accounts.
If you are unable or unwilling to expend the effort to take the dispute further yourself, hiring a credit repair agency will cost you.
Depending on the issues you want to resolve, it may mean a one time or a monthly fee.
Obtain legal representation
In other circumstances, it may be necessary to engage with a debt mediation company to assist in remedying the matter outside of court.
If an agreement cannot be reached, then your other option would be to approach a law firm specializing in credit report disputes.
Mind you, this process can become quite expensive, and depending on the severity of the error or inaccuracy in your credit report, it may not be worth the trouble.
Tips on working with credit repair agencies
Choose your credit repair agency carefully
It is important to do proper research on the credit repair agency of which you wish to enlist the help.
Investigate the company on social media, read customer reviews, and look into Better Business Bureau ratings and comments.
When contacting the agency, always discuss what the agency fee will specifically cover and what it will not. Request everything in writing (hard copy or confirmation email) prior to paying any money.
Maintain communication during the investigation process
Once they begin their research and negotiation, it is important for you to remain in close contact.
It is very likely that a reputable credit repair agency can facilitate an agreement between the lender and the consumer.
Still, it is important to verify the credit report’s accuracy after the information updates are completed. If something is amiss, contact the credit repair agency responsible for the negotiation.
You should also add a consumer statement onto your credit report indicating that the disputed information is under review.
Continue to monitor your credit report
If you are successful through this process and have corrected any errors, you should continue to verify the credit reporting accuracy at regular intervals.
In rare occasions, the corrected information may revert back to previous reported errors after one or two reporting cycles.
This would likely be due to the creditor being ill-informed of the credit report fixes and therefore continuing to report the same information to the bureaus.
If this occurs, consumers should contact either the lender or the credit repair agency directly.