How To Dispute Your Credit

Summary

Your credit report can be long and confusing. Your mortgage lenders will know how to look at this report, so it is important for you to understand it as well.

Your credit score can determine if you are approved for a mortgage, and how much your interest rate will be.

Your credit score can cost or save you thousands of dollars.

Disputing your credit can allow you to improve your credit score if there are errors on your credit.

Basics

You can dispute your credit by:

• Evaluating your credit report

• Researching and documenting errors

• Contacting bureaus and resolving the issues

Evaluating Your Credit Report

Your credit report should list all of your creditors – the ones you have no problem with, the accounts you have closed, and the delinquent or problem accounts.

Your credit report will list all of them individually.

The credit report should also contain the account information for each credit line (credit card, auto loan, etc.) as well as the creditors contact information.

It is not enough to fix errors from just one credit reporting company.  If one company has an error, then it is likely that other credit reporting companies have errors also.  To get the best mortgage rates, it is important that your credit score reflects accurate information.

Researching and Documenting Errors

There are many errors that can show up on your credit report.

You may have paid off an old debt that is still listed as delinquent.

You may not have paid something late, even though you are being reported as such by the creditor.

You need to document any problems and work directly with your creditors to resolve any issues.

This process can take weeks.

If you have documentation of an error you can work with your creditor to resolve problems. If they correct the problem then request a letter from them confirming the resolution of the problem.

This letter can be as simple as a collections agency saying that you have paid a debt in full and that it is no longer outstanding.

This is the letter you will need to submit to all three credit bureaus.

Contacting Credit Bureaus

The credit bureaus can work with you to correct errors on your credit report.

You will usually need to submit documentation you have from individual creditors to correct the error.

A simple letter of explanation may not be as helpful to you as a letter from a creditor saying that they made a mistake or that you have paid off some debt.

Summary

It is possible to work with your creditors and the credit bureaus to make corrections in your credit report.

You will be better off if you resolve these problems prior to applying for a mortgage.

Having to explain away “errors” on your credit report during the mortgage application process is usually not the best way to deal with credit issues.