How to Correct Mistakes on a Credit Report

Because the majority of credit reports have errors, you will most likely, at some point, want to know how to correct mistakes on a credit report. Your credit report is a key ingredient in the health of your personal finances. It can save you or cost you money by affecting the interest rates you are offered. It also will determine whether lenders will loan out money to you. Your credit report is yours, and thus, it is your responsibility to monitor your credit history for errors and to have those errors corrected. This may seem like a daunting task that is better left for a rainy day, but don't fall into that trap. It may take a little time, but the time may well save you lots of hassle and money in the long run.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Credit Report
• Highlighter

1. Get a copy of your credit report. You are allowed one free credit report each year. Take advantage of this law and look over your credit report to see if everything is correct. You can request your credit report online, by phone or by mail.

2. Highlight any mistakes. There could be numerous errors, so the best idea is to simply read over the report with a highlighter and mark any errors that you see.

3. Get correction forms. The easiest way to get the credit report correction forms is to go the website of the credit report you are revising and print out those corrections forms.

4. List every single error, no matter how trivial it may seem, and explain in detail why it is wrong and state the correction plainly. Mail the correction forms and the highlighted credit report to the credit bureau with a return receipt request.

5. Investigate unknown accounts. If you find open accounts in your credit report that are not yours, call the creditors and get the address associated with each of the unknown accounts. At this point, you should contact the police, give them the addresses and inform them that you think you have been a victim of identity theft. Also, inform the credit bureaus by phone.

6. Ask for a corrected copy. When the corrections are made, be sure to ask for a corrected copy of each of the new credit reports. You want proof that the matter has been taken care of.

Tips & Warnings

• There are three credit reporting agencies and all three will give you one free report per year. This means you can get a free credit report every four months and keep a more continuous eye on your credit history and its accuracy.
• Spend the extra money to get your credit score. Your credit score does not come with your credit report, but for a small fee the credit bureaus will sell you your credit score. This will allow you to see your credit score rise as you fix the mistakes and will give you an idea of your credit rating.
• Make sure any negative aspects of your credit report, such as collections and bankruptcies that are older than seven years are removed.
• Do keep a photocopy of the filled-out correction forms, your highlighted credit report, and the return-receipt for your own records. Credit report corrections are, by law, to be handled within one month of your dispute or the information in question must be removed from your credit report.

Resources

• Get your free credit reports from Annual Credit Report.com
• Find the correction forms for your Experian credit report.
• Print out the correction forms for your TransUnion credit report.
• Access the correction forms for your Equifax credit report.

Who Can Help Sponsored

• How strong is your score?  Did you know checking your own credit won’t affect your score? Click here to see yours in two easy steps from Experian.