You may not realize it, but your credit score means a lot to your life. Whether you are trying to get a loan, cell phone or even a job, if you have bad credit you may be in trouble.
First of all, you can go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com every year and get a copy of your credit report for free. Why pay for something if you can get it for free? So many people pay for their credit reports every day without realizing that they could have received it for free.
Check each and every little line of your credit report for errors. Another thing you should check for are duplicate entries for the same bill. Many creditors sell your account to another company, and when they do not receive payment, they also put it on your credit. I had this problem with two different bills, and one of them was actually listed three times with different company names, for the same bill.
To dispute an item on your report, there is a button on the reporting companies website, that says “Dispute an Item”, or something to that effect. click the button adn they will ask you the reason or reasons you are disputing the debt. There will be a drop down list of various reasons you can dispute the item. After you dispute the item, they have 90 days to investigate the debt, and then they will take action. They do not always take 90 days to investigate the debt, it all depends on how quickly they can contact all parties involved.
Another way you can dispute an item or items on your credit report is to write to the reporting company and explain the problem with as much detail as you can, and attach copies of any documentation you may have proving your case. If you have recently been turned down for credit, you should have received a letter explaining that they will send you a free copy of your credit report if you write to them.
Keep in mind that there are three major credit reporting bureaus which are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Your credit information can be different with each one of these bureaus, so be sure to compare them to one another. If you dispute an item with one credit reporting bureau, and get it resolved, it will not be resolved on the other 2 credit reporting bureaus. You must dispute the item with all 3 bureaus.
Following these steps for disputing items on my credit report I actually raised my credit score over 100 points last year. I did not have to spend a dime to fix several errors on my credit report, and neither do you.