Credit Repair
A
recent study found that two thirds (70 percent) of all credit
reports contain errors. One third contain errors serious enough to
cause the denial of credit, housing or employment.
There
are three major credit bureaus that collect information on you –
Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian (formerly TRW) – but they do
not cross verify their information. If one credit bureau contains
errors, the other two may or may not contain errors, or they may
contain entirely different errors. Submitting a dispute to one
credit bureau does not take care of errors reported by the other
two. To cover every base in credit repair, you should get copies of
all three credit reports, and dispute each one separately.
The
law says that if you don't qualify for a free report, you should pay
no more than $9 (this amount usually goes up at the beginning of
each year) to obtain a report from Equifax, Trans Union or Experian
(formerly TRW).
When
you request your report, provide the following information:
- your
full name (including generations such as Jr., Sr., III)
- your
birth date
- your
Social Security number
- your
spouse's name (if applicable)
- your
telephone number, and
- your
current address and addresses for the previous five years.
You
should also attach a copy of the credit report that contains the
errors you wish to dispute. Circle each error and write a detailed
explanation clarifying why each item is inaccurate. Include any
supporting documentation you have.
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