Clean Up Credit Report

If you are faced with the problem of having poor credit for whatever reason, you will have a low credit score or rate. If these problems are caused by some error, this can be fixed. There are some other negative items that can also be fixed without the help of credit counseling companies.

One of the first things to do is to obtain a copy of your credit report and itemize each item that you think may not be correct. The next step would be to write a letter to the company you received the report from and inform them of any mistakes you have noticed and ask them to investigate the items and discover what the problem is so that you can correct the mistake. Make sure that you have receipts or other paperwork to support your opinion of the mistake, get a photo copy of it and send the copy along with your letter of dispute. Make sure that you never send your original receipts or supporting documentation. Send the letter by certified mail and request a return receipt in order for you to be able to prove that the letter was received.

The next step is to send a letter of much the same information to the creditor whose account information you are disagreeing with. Make sure you have the correct address where to send the letter because sometimes it's not the same as the billing address. You should also send some sort of conformation as to your current mailing address.

The company that wrote the credit report will begin an investigation into your dispute and will contact the creditors on your behalf to make sure that the information you supplied was indeed correct. If the creditor confirms that the information on the credit report is incorrect then it will be removed. When all the investigations are complete, then the credit reporting company must send you a free copy of the corrected report after the changes have been made.

After discovering and correcting the error, you then have the right to request that the credit reporting company send a copy of the new report to everyone who received the old report for the past six months.