Free Credit Bureau Report

Steven Parsons asked:




1. Be aggressive in repairing your own credit.

Credit repair is not going to just happen. Bad credit is not something you can ignore, hoping that it will work itself out. Things like credit card charge offs, accounts that went to collections, and late payments will stay on your credit report for 7 years. But once bills have been paid off it is much easier to have them removed. The easiest way to remove a charge off is to send the credit bureau a challenge letter, also called a dispute letter.

2. Dispute the items you want removed.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute any negative items on your credit report. This means you can challenge repossessions, charge offs, collections accounts, bankruptcies, foreclosures, judgments, tax liens, and anything else you disagree with. The thing to keep in mind is that the law says you are allowed to dispute anything, so go for the charge offs for sure.

3. How to dispute items on your credit report.

First contact the credit bureaus and request a free copy of your credit report. You are entitled to one free report each year from each bureau. So as long as you have not already requested one this year, you can get a free one. Send each bureau that lists the negative item a letter telling them to remove the specific item you want removed, and why. Make a photo copy of the credit report and circle each of the items you are disputing. Put a number next to each circle, that number should correspond to a number on your letter. This makes it fool proof for the bureaus to figure out which item you are talking about in your letter.

4. The investigation process

There is nothing for you to do now but sit back, relax, and wait. The credit bureaus have 30 days to investigate the items you dispute. That time starts when they receive the letter. They will contact the original creditor notifying them of your dispute and asking them if they agree or disagree with you. From there the credit bureau must provide proof through documentation that the entries are valid. If the entries can not be validated within 30 days from the time they receive the letter, it must be removed from your credit report.

5. Following up

It is critical that you follow up with the credit bureaus. A trend that is starting to emerge with them is they simply don’t remove items that have not been validated, or sometimes they don’t even conduct an investigation. So if you don’t get a letter within a couple weeks after the investigation should have been complete, make a call to them and find out what happened. Whatever they say, ask them to send a letter for your records.

So lets recap what you need to do. First, get a copy of your credit report. Second, review your credit report and make note of any items on the report that you want removed. Third, write your dispute letter then circle and number each item on the report that you are disputing. Fourth, sit back and wait for the investigation to be completed. Fifth, follow up if you have not received an answer within 6 weeks.

Follow these simple steps and you will be well on your way to easy credit repair. To make things even more simple, order a set of proven credit repair letters from an expert. The reason you should do that is their letters have been proven to work, because they have used them successfully to dispute items for their clients. A well written dispute letter will practically guarantee success.

Linda

Jared Wright asked:




Credit report companies offer their services to people who need to get their credit score and other information about their financial status. A credit report is required when you apply for a loan such as a home mortgage, and may also be required when you want to apply for a credit card. There are credit reports for individuals, and there are also some reports which are made to evaluate the statuses of companies.

Credit report companies are also known as credit bureaus. There are three major credit report companies, which are the Equifax Credit Bureau, the TransUnion Credit Bureau, and the Experian Credit Bureau. These companies collect different information from creditors, which are then used to generate reports that are sold to their clients.

A credit report is a valuable document in the sense that it includes information which may grant or deny loan approval, employment, licensing, insurance and other business needs. Individuals and businesses alike are dependent on their credit scores and report to help in evaluating their current financial standing.

Some information which is available from credit companies includes the following:

• Identification. Credit report companies have consumer details such as name, employer, address, name of spouse and the company or employer of the spouse.

• Credit history. This includes accounts which are active, including the account numbers, the date when the accounts where opened, the payments and other activities made for it, balances, amounts that were paid in the past, and how often payment was late. These are all bases for a low credit score, meriting a lender ground for denying you of a loan.

• Derogatory items. These include risks which may affect the lender or the company which will deal with the other party. Judgments, suits, bankruptcies and tax liens may prevent you from getting approved for a loan.

• Inquiries. Companies or individuals may have asked for your information, such as banks and financial institutions which have required your bank details. You will be given information about the inquiries which happened in the last 18 months only.

Credit report companies update your information regularly so that their database is updated and is relevant. Lenders can access your information to help them decide whether or not you can be trusted with a loan or a new credit card. You can also access your own credit score by logging in to the website of the three credit bureaus mentioned above so you can monitor your finances as closely as you need.

Juanita

Aubrey Clark asked:




The epidemic of home foreclosures, higher gas and food prices have stretchered the average consumers budget to the max. According to Trans Union and Equifax, national credit scores are steadily dropping at a higher rate than they have seen in the last decade. As a result of the lower credit scores large ticket items, like homes and automobiles, have began to slow down fueling the current recession. At Direct Banc, we thought a few credit bureau repair tips might be in order, here are the steps we recommend consumers follow.

Become Familiar with your Credit Report – Having a credit bureau in hand is essential if you are serious about credit bureau repair. There are three major credit reporting repositories (Experian, Equifax, Trans Union), each reporting their own version of your credit. It almost certain that each of their reports will differ from the others. For this reason, you should get a 3 in 1 credit bureau report before you begin your credit bureau repair. Validate all Negative remarks – We suggest that you send a validation letter to every creditor or collection agency that is reporting negative information about you. Send these letters BEFORE sending a dispute letter to the credit repositories. Creditors/collection agencies are required to validate the legitimacy of your debt and their relationship to the debt. If they are unable or unwilling to answer your request for validation, the credit repositories will likely remove the remark. Dispute Invalidated Items to the Credit Repositories – Wait 30 business days from the time sent the creditors a letter of validation. Once this time frame has passed, you can send a dispute letter to EVERY credit repository showing proof (certified letter receipt) that the collection agency failed to respond to your request. This will usually result in the removal of the remark. Stop the Collection Agencies from harassing you -Once you are back on the collection agency’s radar, they will most likely begin to actively collect the debt. We all know how annoying that is; all you need to do is send them a “stop harassment” letter that basically tells them to leave you alone while you are working on the debt. Dispute Valid Debts with The Credit Repositories – As we mentioned earlier, collection agencies have to prove that you owe the debt to the repositories. Even though you may actually owe the debt, or deserve the negative remark, some agencies are unable to back it up. If you send a dispute letter to ALL of the repositories requesting an investigation the collection agencies are compelled to answer them. If they do not answer the repository in a timely manner, or they offer unsatisfactory proof, the remark must be removed.

This list is just a partial explanation of how to thoroughly repair your credit bureau. We have a tutorial underway at Direct Banc that will give you a detailed, step by step break-down of credit bureau repair. We also list a comprehensive assortment of pre-written sample credit repair letters that are free to download to help you with all of the validations and disputes.

Keep in mind when attempting credit bureau repair, the credit repositories are your friends, being rude or disrespectful to them will not help your situation. The collection agencies, not so much, it’s best to deal with them by mail. Remember to send ALL correspondence certified, return receipt mail; it’s worth the two bucks. Keep all receipts and letters, you WILL need them in the future when the collection agencies sell your debt to penny brokers.

Kenneth

Krystle Chan asked:




By now, most Americans understand the importance of credit monitoring as a protective measure against identity theft and reporting errors that may jeopardize one’s financial standing. What may be more difficult is knowing how to read one’s report or the steps that need to be taken to dispute errors. The Better Business Bureau has provided a few tips Americans can follow to ensure their credit report is healthy and error-free.

The actual report will contain a record of all open lines of credit, student loans, mortgage and utility payments and other types of financial information that affects a credit score. The document will also record any bankruptcies or tax liens.

Examining a credit report will also allow consumers to gauge their financial standing. They can view areas where they may be strong, such as paying bills on time. Individual’s may also discover their credit weak spots, such as using too much available credit.

Consumers should review the accuracy of all information on the report and immediately report any errors. A study conducted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Groups revealed that nearly 79 percent of credit reports contained some type of error. If an error is listed on the credit report, consumers should contact credit bureaus and be prepared to submit supporting documentation to disprove the false information listed. Individuals who discover fraudulent charges should contact credit bureaus to request that a “fraud alert” be placed on the report. The police should also be notified and consumers may want to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

In order to make sure the credit report dispute runs smoothly, individuals should keep records of all correspondence and documentation throughout the process. Maintaining adequate records, including names, phone numbers, and conversation summaries with credit bureau representatives will facilitate resolution.

Credit reports can be viewed as a report card of overall financial health. Consumers should actively monitor their reports in order to protect their finances and, in cases of identity theft, their reputations with lenders. Credit reports also serve as a guideline for the areas in which improvements can be made.

Bradley

Helen Hecker asked:




Assuming you already have a copy of your annual credit report you may have already found some errors that should be removed. Errors should always be a big concern because they can and probably have affected your credit score, also called a FICO. You can repair your credit with a little bit of help.

It may seem like a lot of work but it’s really easy. The hardest part is actually sitting down to do it. You’ll need to check all three credit bureaus to make sure the same error isn’t on all three but if you just have one credit report, start with that one.

First make a list of any and all errors that you find on your personal credit report. These could be in the form of personal information such as birth date or more likely there will be information that you know not to be true such as late payments or no payments recorded etc. If you think there is any possibility that you could be wrong check your past history with the creditor in question first.

You want to make sure you are right before you make the request to have any information removed from your credit report.

You will be sending the letter only to the credit bureau mentioned on the report, which would be Esperian, Equifax or TransUnion. You don’t want to sound angry in the letter, just be matter-of-fact, straightforward and business-like. Just outline the facts – name of creditor, dates, and the error(s) or problem(s) you’re finding on the credit report.

Here is a sample letter:

Date:

To whom it may concern at Esperian (or other credit bureau):

I recently acquired a copy of my credit report and found some errors that I’d like to dispute. I am enclosing documentation to prove the information is incorrect and would like a correction. I value my good standing and good credit history and want to maintain a good credit rating and credit score.

Name the creditor along with the reference date including the month, day and year if possible.

The error(s) I have found are:

I’m including copies of my payment record, with a (cancelled check or online payment print-outs or any other documentation that you have).
I would appreciate any attention to the matter as I would like my credit report to be accurate. I’m sure you understand that credit bureaus need to include only information that is accurate in my file.

Thank you for taking a look at my letter and file and hopefully making the necessary corrections so I can continue to maintain my good credit standing. Please let me know that my file has been reviewed and what action has been taken. I would also like a copy of my corrected credit report sent to the enclosed address. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Besides your full name as shown on the report, include you mailing address, a copy of the report that you have, your social security number, driver’s license photocopy and any other documentation such as a cancelled check or online payment confirmations.

Make a copy of the letter for yourself and a copy of any enclosures with the letter. Send the dispute letter by certified mail with a ‘return receipt’ requested. Then make sure to get the free credit reports from the other two main credit bureaus or reporting agencies to make sure they don’t have the same incorrect information. You can get free instant credit reports from the other two online.

Dale