Credit Disputes

If you're needing to fix some of those incorrect items on your credit report, you'll be happy to know that there are ways to get it done. Now before you get too excited, you should know that any negative information on your report that is accurate can only be legally removed by the collector at their own discretion - anything not removed by them will generally sit for 7 - 10 years.

Otherwise, those bits of information that aren't correct can be removed if you know what steps to take. So let's look at a basic credit repair strategy that can help you dispute items that shouldn't be on your credit report.

What to Do When Information on your Credit Report is Incorrect?:

If you look over your credit report and you notice a couple of items that don't appear to belong to you, it is important that you dispute the information so that it doesn't continue to negatively affect your credit report and credit score. In order to get this done, you simply contact the credit bureau correlating with your report (Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian). Typically, you can file a dispute right on their website. But if you can't, then you should be able to via phone or mail.

Once you've submitted the dispute, it will normally take up to 45 days to conclude the investigation. And when everything is completed, you will be sent a response; and the bureau will make adjustments to your report if necessary.

Disputing Other Items:

If you find other items on your report that you're unsure about, you can most certainly send in a dispute using the same steps to determine whether the information is valid. If it is then you will receive a notice explaining that the collector confirmed its validity. However, you might get lucky and find that the information was actually incorrect. And in a rare scenario, you might get even luckier and have the collector actually not respond to the bureau within30 days. If they don't respond to confirm validity, the item must be deleted.

It never hurts to check on the items on your credit report to make sure they're correct if you're not sure. So get a copy of your credit report at Go Free Credit and get a 3 in 1 credit check for accuracy.

Under law, you are allowed to dispute any inaccurate information with the credit bureau and get it removed from your credit report. If you dispute the error, both the credit bureau and the information provider are responsible for correcting any inaccurate information, and must investigate any disputes within 30 days and notify you of a resolution.

But what happens when there is negative information on your report that is accurate? Some people will assure you that it is worthwhile to dispute an accurate negative item as well, on the assumption that, while the dispute is going on, the item will be temporarily removed and your score will go up and perhaps someone will make a mistake and youll win the dispute by default.

Unfortunately, this is not actually the way it works. Credit fixing tactics such as this were fairly commonplace twenty years ago, but in the age of computers, accurate information is generally confirmed very quickly. If you dispute accurate items, you run the risk of your dispute being flagged as frivolous. Even in the unlikely event that your credit is fixed and the item is dropped, if the negative item is accurate, your creditor can simply report it to the credit bureau again wasting your time and everyone elses.

Unfortunately, when negative information on your credit is accurate, the only remedy is patience and the passage of time. The standard time you need to wait before the item is dropped from your report is usually seven years, with the following exceptions:

• A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stay on your report for 10 years.
• Credit information in response to an application for a job with a salary of over $75,000 has no time limit.
• Criminal convictions also have no time limit.
• If you apply for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance, that information also has no time limit.
• Defaulting on US government student loans can be reported for seven years after certain guarantor actions.
• Any lawsuits or unpaid judgments against you can be reported until the statute of limitations runs out, if the statute of limitations is longer than seven years.

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