This is Part 2 of the post “How to Correct Errors on Your Credit Report—Parts 1–2”. Part 1 is available on this blog page.
The first part of this post, “How to Correct Errors on Your Credit Report—Part 1”, discussed:
"A robust credit report and a high (or at least medium to high) credit score are important because they have very real, practical effects on your life. They can affect your ability to get a mortgage, rent a home, own or lease a car, obtain a personal loan or insurance policy, obtain a job or credit card, and other financial matters dependent on your credit history and the rated quality of your personal credit.
Each of the three major national credit reporting bureaus in the United States—Equifax®, Experian™, and TransUnion LLC—separately and continuously collect your personal financial history to compile your credit report, which is used to determine your credit score. Just like people, companies can inadvertently make mistakes, and sometimes these mistakes can be serious, with harmful consequences. An error in a credit report can damage a credit score and cause problems lasting for years if the mistake isn’t corrected completely."
Part 2 of ”How to Correct Errors on Your Credit Report” begins below.
How to contact the three largest credit-reporting bureaus
Here is how to contact the big three credit reporting bureaus either online, by U.S. Postal mail, or by phone:
- Equifax is online at https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-dispute/
Mail the dispute form with your letter and supporting documents to:
Equifax Information Services, LLC
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374-0256
Contact Equifax by phone at 1-888-378-4329, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (ET), Saturday and Sunday - Experian is online at https://www.experian.com/disputes/main.html
Mail the dispute form with your letter and supporting documents to:
Experian
P.O. Box 4500
Allen, TX 75013
Contact Experian's National Consumer Assistance Center by phone at 1-888-397-3742, or use the number on the credit report - TransUnion is online at: https://www.transunion.com/credit-disputes/dispute-your-credit
Mail the dispute form with your letter and supporting documents to:
TransUnion Consumer Solutions
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016-2000
Contact TransUnion by phone at (800) 916-8800
I’ve submitted my dispute information—what happens next?
What happens after my dispute information is mailed to a credit reporting bureau? After the credit reporting bureau receives your dispute submission, it will be reviewed by the bureau, and specific information in contention may be sent directly to the original source of the information, such as (but not limited to these examples) a lender, landlord or credit card issuer to be validated or corrected. If the correction is warranted, request that the credit bureau update your credit report.
When can you expect to hear back from a credit reporting bureau? The FCRA requires that a credit reporting agency investigate your dispute and respond to you within 30 days.
How do I track my dispute with the credit reporting agency? The agencies generally allow consumers to track their dispute through the company’s website, or by calling the phone number dedicated to dispute resolution. It is a good idea to stay in regular contact with the credit reporting agency in the case that some sort of complication occurs with the dispute process.
To dispute incorrect reporting with companies who have furnished financial records to your credit report
The FCRA requires either the credit report agency or the information furnisher to respond to disputes they receive—so it is up to the consumer which company they want to deal with. Both have an obligation to fully investigate a dispute, correct any errors and respond to the consumer within 30 days, in most cases.
Be prepared to take time, effort and patience to work with companies to change their incorrect (or missing and outdated) information on your financial history. It is important to be prepared, thorough, calm and persistent when directly reaching out to a company to have records changed.
Specifically, some suggestions for dealing with these companies are:
- If information about managing any sort of consumer issue is not available on a company’s website, call them at what seems to be the most appropriate phone number listed on the site, have them direct you to the most appropriate person at the company and explain the situation you are attempting to resolve with incorrect, missing or outdated information.
- Document each contact very thoroughly, determine specific follow-on actions, and agree on deadlines. Take note of the date, time, name-title-department of the person contacted, what was discussed, and what next steps are required, who is taking those steps, and a specific date by which those next steps are to be completed.
- If needed, follow any steps—such as using certified mail and enclosing supporting documentation—from the recommendations above for dispute resolution with the credit reporting bureaus that may be helpful.
- If you are have difficulty getting a company to correct its information, then contact the credit bureaus and request that they add a consumer statement to your credit reports explaining your situation. While this would not directly affect your actual credit score, you may be able to go online and add a brief 100- to 200-word statement to your credit reports explaining the circumstances of incorrect information, which can be seen by any organization that may be checking your credit score. Check with the primary credit reporting agencies to find out if (and how) to add a statement to your credit reports.
Looking for more information on managing credit, credit reports, credit scores and related topics?
For more information that may help you manage your costs and finances, look into the free Delta Community Financial Education Center webinars on a range of practical, “how to” topics that could potentially help save you money and enable you to better manage your income, financial assets and life. Please visit the Financial Education Center's Events & Seminars page to review and register for its monthly on-demand webinars.
The Credit Union’s blog has more information that could be educational and helpful:
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Visit the BALANCE™ website to learn about their education and assistance programs. Members can also speak with certified credit and housing counselors to get personalized guidance.
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