By HILARY JOHNSON
What’s In Your Wallet? Clean Credit Gives You Options
HOW TO CLEAN IT UP
Now that you have taken the time to find the mistakes on your credit report, the next step is to get them off there!
The credit bureaus are only collecting information. They never see accounts or payments. They do not work between you and the lender, either. The first course of action for you to take if you notice a problem is to go to that lender and ask questions.
This is particularly helpful for recent information or transactions. For example, perhaps you have noticed that a payment did not post or that someone had a listing as late when it was on time.
Your creditor does have the ability to change remarks left on your credit report. They do not always do this instantly, though. It may take until the next reporting that they provide to the credit bureaus. What is important is that you call them and let them know of the mistake.
They can then give you instant access to information. Do they have your payment listed as being late? Did they make a mistake in your credit usage? This information should be understood by you prior to filing a claim directly with the credit reporting agencies. That way you know what the facts are and can deal with them appropriately.
Calling your creditor and asking them questions about your credit report is an option to consider. They may or may not be able to clear up the problem, though. You will still need to ensure that the mistakes are removed from your actual credit report, too. Even if they assure you that the mistakes will receive removal in the next 30 to 60 days, follow up and make sure that this happens.
CONTACTING THE CREDIT BUREAUS
In most situations, you will want to work through the credit bureaus directly to have any errors or mistakes removed from your credit report. You can do this easily right at the company’s website.
All credit reporting agencies have the process of removing the credit mistakes online now. It used to be that you needed to call or mail a letter to the credit bureau to get the process going.
Now, credit bureaus have made the process quite simple to do. You simply need to sign into the account you have credited when you obtained the copy of your credit report, fill in some basic information and send it off to the lender. Of course, it is a bit more complex than this but the process is not nearly as complicated as you may expect it to be.
Go To The Right Credit Bureau
The first step is to go back to the credit bureau’s website. You will need to report the error to the individual credit bureau that s reporting the problem. For example, if you find a mistake on your Experian account, you will need to go to Experian to have it removed.
At the same time, though, realize that if the mistake has been reported on all three credit reports, you may need to file a claim against each one. This will allow you to get it removed from each of the company’s reports.
Most credit bureaus require you to create an account and password when you sign in to view your credit report. This is helpful because it allows you to come back to your report whenever you need to (they are generally available to you for 30 days from the time you have requested them.) Head back to the website and log in.
Once there, you will find a link on the home page, usually, that allows you to “dispute” the report or item. This is generally a link that is located on this page, which will take you to a much more in depth form to fill out. You will be fine with the process if you have a printed copy of your credit report on hand to allow you to navigate easily where you need to go.
Sometimes, the companies will allow you to click a link located directly next to the report that’s been filed. For example, next to your credit card lender’s name and account information, there may be a link to dispute a claim. There will be another link on the next lender’s information for the same reason. This is perhaps one of the easiest ways to report an error on your credit report.
Now that you are there, what should you do?