Formulating your case
Step One:
You are now ready to begin writing your first letter of dispute. It should be a simple statement of the problem you are trying to resolve. You should write in a polite, yet firm manner. This letter serves to inform the credit bureau that you have an issue that needs their attention and resolution, and that you are willing to cooperate with them and provide with them with all the details they need in order to bring about the desired resolution. Write a letter in the following manner:
Date:
YOUR FULL NAME
YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
The Credit Bureau
Address
City, State, Zip
To Whom It May Concern:
By way of this letter, I am challenging the following entry in my credit report:
- Date of Credit Report
- Disputed Entry:
Please return a summary of your investigation stating that you have or have not received verification of the above credit report entry.
Should verification not be provided to you within 30 days, I expect the above entry to be permanently deleted from my credit report.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Signature
The credit bureau will take the information you have given them and verify that it is on your credit report as stated in your letter, provided they do not ask for more information (which, if they do, you can readily supply them). They will then authenticate the entry with the original lender. If they cannot verify the entry, they will remove it. This will only be a "soft delete", however, meaning that the information will be reinstated on your credit report anytime the credit bureau receives verification from the lender. This process will take 45-50 days, and you will receive details of the result from the credit bureau thereafter.
Step Two:
It is not unusual that the first letter does not quickly resolve anything. It is now time to send the second letter. In this letter you again provide all the information you gave in the first letter, and it further states that you wish to request a re-investigation of the matter, and that you would like to have information from the credit bureau as to whom they contacted at the lender's offices.
Date:
YOUR FULL NAME
YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
The Credit Bureau
Address
City, State, Zip
To Whom It May Concern:
I understand that an investigation concerning the entry below that appeared on my credit report was undertaken. However, I am still in disagreement with this entry, as it certainly is incorrect. Would you please re-investigate. Please refer to my previous letter, a copy of which is enclosed for your convenience.
Furthermore, would you please send me the name and business address of each individual with whom you verified the information as per my previous letter.
Please forward me an updated version of my credit report, after you have conducted your investigation. I am still in disagreement with the following entry:
- Entry details:
- Credit Report Date:
Should you not receive verification within 30 days, I expect the above entry to be permanently deleted from my credit report.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Signature
When the credit bureau receives your second letter, it will reinvestigate the information you provide. If any entries are not resolved to your satisfaction, they will send you the details on the person they contacted at the lenders' offices, in order to verify the information. You can use these details to contact the lenders directly and discuss matters with them further, at a later date.
At this stage, you have done all that you can do with a credit bureau. Now it is time to look at the various responses you will receive.
Get a Free Credit Repair Consultation. Click here
Responses and what to do with them
|
