| If you're being turned down for credit left and right by | | | | inaccurate. And in this letter, you must state that, in |
| every mortgage broker, credit card company, and | | | | accordance with the Act, if the agency does not |
| landlord, or you're not even able to refinance your own | | | | verify this information within 30 days, then they are |
| house, that is an indication that you have some | | | | required to delete the information from your credit |
| negative items on your credit report that are scaring | | | | report. |
| away lenders. You have two choices: You can either | | | | Now what if the bureau is able to contact the creditor |
| walk away and decide to wait out the next seven | | | | and verify the information within the 30-day |
| years until those negative items drop off your credit | | | | timeframe? Well, then the information stays on your |
| report, or you can take control over the situation and | | | | credit report. What if the creditor is a little slow but |
| learn how to delete negative items from your credit | | | | gets back to the bureau within 45 days? Then yes, |
| report. | | | | even though the bureau deleted the item after 30 |
| You may have seen those advertisements where | | | | days, the information can be added back in the |
| those law firms or credit counseling companies | | | | subsequent month. But through patience and |
| promise to fix your credit, raise your FICO score, and | | | | persistence, if you follow this method, you will |
| get you a fresh start. How do you delete negative | | | | eventually be able to improve your credit score. There |
| items from your credit report? The answer is based | | | | is no 100% guarantee, however, which is why shouldn't |
| on a law passed by Congress in the latter half of the | | | | pay anyone to fix your credit for you, unless they |
| twentieth century known as the Fair Credit Reporting | | | | offer a money back-guarantee if your credit score |
| Act. This law was passed to protect consumer's rights | | | | doesn't improve within a specific period of time. |
| to access their credit report and play an active role in | | | | A couple of bits of advice: Write one separate letter |
| ensuring that it does not contain any inaccuracies or | | | | to each bureau for each disputed item. For example, if |
| misrepresentations of your true credit profile. | | | | you have five derogatory items on your report, that |
| If you have derogatory information contained in any of | | | | were reported to all three bureaus, then you should |
| the credit reports issued by the "big three" credit | | | | write fifteen letters. This way you can track the |
| bureau, you simply need to write a letter to each | | | | progress of each dispute, plus it guarantees that the |
| respective creditor disputing the accuracy of that | | | | credit agency will pay individual attention to each one. |
| particular entry in your credit report. By law, then the | | | | Give them more paperwork to process and they will |
| bureau must contact the creditor to verify that specific | | | | be that much more backlogged to meet their thirty-day |
| item that is in dispute. And here is where the law | | | | deadline. |
| works in your favor: If the bureau is unable to verify | | | | And one final bit of advice: The Fair Credit Reporting |
| the accuracy of the information within 30 days, they | | | | Act also allows the bureaus to disregard your dispute |
| are required to delete that item from your credit report | | | | if it s frivolous in nature. In other words, if you do |
| altogether! | | | | something to cause them to suspect that you are just |
| Here is an example of how you would do this: Let's | | | | filing disputes that you know are more than likely to be |
| say that you were late for your mortgage payment in | | | | accurate, just for the sake of flooding them with |
| May of last year, you simply write a letter to the credit | | | | requests, then they can disregard your inquiry and not |
| bureau that is reporting that late payment, detailing that | | | | take it seriously. Therefore, be careful not to do things |
| entry, and including your name, address, and social | | | | like repeatedly dispute the same item over and over |
| security number, in which you state that in accordance | | | | again if it keeps on getting verified. The law was |
| with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are disputing | | | | passed to protect the legitimate needs of consumers |
| such and such entry as you believe it may be | | | | against credit fraud or data entry errors. |