David N Kamau asked:




Most consumers do not know how to dispute a credit report, nor the process the credit bureaus take to verify a dispute. First of all, it all depends on what your letter said.

Most people will phrase their letter to say, “this information is incorrect” or “the dates are wrong.” This is not how you dispute a negative tradeline on your report.

The credit bureau sends a dispute form letter to the creditor, which they are used to receiving. It will state what the consumer is disputing. First, it will ask to verify the consumer’s information; name, address and those personal details.

Next, it will ask to verify whatever you disputed; the dates are wrong or this information is incorrect. The creditor will answer with the information is correct and supply and verify your personal information. This is to make sure the agency and creditor are indeed talking about the same person and same credit file.

Next, the creditor will just say the information is correct, here’s their personal information. Unfortunately, that is all that’s needed. And it all hinged on what you letter stated.

Get Creative in Your Disputes

When you are going to dispute a tradeline, you must get to the crux of what the creditor needs to verify. Say you have a loan from 10 years ago that you want to dispute because you didn’t pay it off. First, it’s a long shot, but many companies or even banks displace information or get it mixed up.

You are counting on this and develop your dispute letter to make them search for the information. Remember, they only have 30 days before they must remove the item. So you create a letter saying you do not recall signing any loan forms and to please forward the original copies bearing your signature.

This is only stating you do not remember taking out this loan and before you pay for someone else’s responsibilities, you want to make sure it’s yours. Either they begin searching or they remove it.

The point is, you must be creative and flexible in your judgment if you want to successfully get your credit report in order.

While you’re at it, avoid using dispute forms from any of the credit bureau’s website. And write in your own words; never copy credit dispute letters off the internet as millions of people may have used the exact same letter(s).

Dan