It’s time to get down to the nitty gritty of repairing our credit. We are going to start by actually fixing errors on the credit report.
You might think that this is a silly step because how many errors are there really actually on a report? Well, several million!According to the Federal Trade Commission – 42 million Americans have errors on their credit reports. This is a HUGE chunk of the adult population. Errors on credit reports can cause a lot of financial and job problems. Again, there are several reasons why you want a good, clean credit report and score…even for the debt free.
The Nitty Gritty of this week’s task:
Last week’s task involved getting your free credit report and score that you are entitled to each year without counting as a “check” (a soft or hard check) on your credit!
Well, it’s now time to comb through the report and make a list of any and all errors, discrepancies or inaccuracies on your credit report.
We are giving you this week to first identify and find any errors. We want you to take the time to investigate and research the information as some of the errors might not stand out to you right away. You will want to check the report against your own records to truly see if the items on your credit report are indeed accurate.
Make sure towatch for other discrepancies such as incorrect balances, reported late payments if you have proof of paying on time, unauthorized credit checks, multiple checks from the same account, etc.
We have found our fair share of errors on our reports in the past and a simple dispute solved many and cleaned up the report and score a little more each time. We will get into disputing later, but for now, this week’s task is to just identify the errors.
We have provided a free printable checklist for you to utilize to help you work through this task efficiently and easily, while giving you a resource to place in your home binder to reference in months ahead on the status of those disputes. Yes, it does take months to remove those inaccuracies, but a few months time is better than a credit report in error years from now.
It’s pretty self-explanatory, but this week you are only going to fill out the “Creditor” and “Dispute Details” boxes as you go through your report. We will be using the other boxes later on.
We also wanted to let you know that “creditor” is not just those that you owe money to in the form of a loan. It could even be the phone company that made an unauthorized credit check (or other error) as errors are not always just debt related. Even since becoming consumer debt-free, we’ve found a fewerrors from non-creditors that didn’t obtain our authorization for a credit check prior to opening a new account. However, for simplification on the form, we just used the word creditor to cover all. 🙂
So go ahead and work on this week’s task as we begin to gain more control over our credit/financial character history!
Just print your free printable credit report cleanup checklist below:
Again, we just wanted to remind you that it is important to have a good credit score and report, even for those families that aredebt-free!
Need to catch up? Come join us on this challenge from the very beginning by clicking on the 52-Week Take Back Your Finances Challengeand sign up to start receiving your automated challenge from the very beginning!
One final thing…we also have a Facebook Group where you can engage in discussions, receive encouragement and talk to others that are participating in the challenges too for more ideas! Head to the Be Intentional with The Thrifty Couple Facebook Page HERE and ask to join us there! You can also invite friends and spouses too!
Disclaimer: We are not licensed financial planners. We are only a couple that have been just a hair-breadth away from bankruptcy and found our way out of debt with a goal to now help others. Please make sure to consider any advice given on our site and in this challenge as tips we have used ourselves; they may not work for everyone. If you have questions please make sure tocontact a licensed professional.
If you discover errors on your credit report, gather any supporting documents and include them with a letter disputing the error. Then send it to: The credit reporting agency whose report you are disputing. The company that provided the incorrect information.
For additional help getting a response from the credit reporting company: Speak with a lawyer. You may also qualify for free legal services in your community, if you need additional help and legal advice. If you are a servicemember, you can contact your legal assistance office .
If you identify an error on your credit report, you should start by disputing that information with the credit reporting company (Experian, Equifax, and/or Transunion). You should explain in writing what you think is wrong, why, and include copies of documents that support your dispute.
You cannot remove collections from your credit report without paying if the information is accurate, but a collection account will fall off your credit report after 7 years whether you pay the balance or not.
In general, most debt will fall off of your credit report after seven years, but some types of debt can stay for up to 10 years or even indefinitely. Certain types of debt or derogatory marks, such as tax liens and paid medical debt collections, will not typically show up on your credit report.
Both the credit bureau and the business that supplied the information to a credit bureau have to correct information that's wrong or incomplete in your report. And they have to do it for free. To correct mistakes in your report, contact the credit bureau and the business that reported the inaccurate information.
What is the best reason why you would dispute a collection? The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to dispute any item on your credit report that is incorrect, questionable or fraudulent. If any item on your credit report falls into one of these categories, you can dispute it.
In order to verify your claims, CIBIL may contact your lenders and you. After thorough verification and assessment, CIBIL authorities will initiate the necessary corrections and will rectify your report as per authentic data. This way, your report is generated once more, and your credit score may improve.
It's not possible to wipe your credit history clean. Negative items like late payments, collections and bankruptcies typically remain on your credit report for several years. However, you can rebuild your credit with on-time payments, debt reduction and responsible credit account management.
Technically, pay for delete isn't expressly prohibited by the FCRA, but it shouldn't be viewed as a blanket get-out-of-bad-credit-jail-free card. "The only items you can force off of your credit report are those that are inaccurate and incomplete," says McClelland.
If your credit report shows a history of debt problems or contains errors, you may consider using a repair service to “clean it up.” Before you pay, however, know the way these businesses operate. In the vast majority of cases, hiring an outside company will do no more than waste your money.
Terms may apply to offers listed on this page. Unrecognized debt that has gone to collections and unrecognized accounts are the two most common credit report errors. Name mistakes, wrong addresses, and payments wrongly reported as late or missed are also common issues.
How to fix credit delinquency. While you cannot remove a correctly reported delinquency from your credit report on your own, your creditor can. You can try asking your creditor to forgive the late payment and remove it from your credit history through a goodwill letter.
How to file a Direct Dispute™ through Credit Karma
On your TransUnion Credit Report open the account you'd like to dispute.
Select Dispute an Error.
You'll be prompted to complete a form regarding ownership and accuracy. You can choose to dispute either the ownership or the accuracy of an account, but not both.
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