How to Remove Experian Business Credit Report Errors

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By Vanillatte
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Experian Business Credit Report

If you own a small business and have established credit lines with your suppliers, then you need to check your Experian business credit report for errors. Business credit reports and scores are completely separate from your personal credit information. Experian business credit report errors could result in your company being denied credit or receiving limited terms from suppliers. If you discover Experian business credit report errors, here are the steps to have them removed as quickly as possible.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

fax machine
internet access
e-mail
Experian's address
copier
lawyer

Step 1

Review your Experian Business Credit Report for errors. If you've been denied credit, you can get your business credit report at no charge. (see link below) Let’s say you get your Experian business credit report and discover some old tax liens on the report due to a mistake made by the taxing authority. These liens were expunged years ago. The credit bureaus employ people who go to courts and scour the records looking for information. Sometimes, due to an oversight by the court clerk, an error in the records or perhaps lack of knowledge on the part of the credit bureau employee, old, outdated information makes its way to your Experian business credit report.
Step 2

Gather the supporting documentation. If, for example, it is old tax liens that were expunged, you will need to make a visit to the court where the liens were filed and request copies of the documentation that proves the liens were expunged (removed from the records). In this case, it will most likely be a letter from the taxing authority. Most courts will require proof that you work for the company and will accept a business card or company letterhead. Believe it or not, employees of credit bureaus who do not work for your company have a much easier time of accessing your sensitive information than you do. The court will provide you with copies of the documentation you need to prove the business credit report errors.
Step 3

Highlight and index. You will need to highlight each individual Experian business credit report error, assign a number or letter to each item and mark the corresponding supporting document with the same number or letter. This makes it much easier for the employees of the Experian Commercial Relations Department to understand, thus hopefully helping them remedy the situation as quickly as possible. Remember, the good reputation of your business is at stake here.
Step 4

Write a cover letter. Address the letter to the Experian Commerical Relations Department. Within the body of the letter, list the errors that are on the report. State in detail the nature of each Experian business credit report error. Request that these business credit report errors be removed within two weeks. Request that they send you a free copy of your report showing that the mistakes have been removed. State that you cannot wait their normal 30 days for the mistakes to be removed as this will place undue hardship on your business and that you may be forced to seek legal remedies should they not comply with your request within the two week timeframe.
Step 5

Make four copies of your letter, credit report and supporting documentation. This is a very important step. Fax one copy to the Experian Commercial Relations Department (see note below for fax number). Overnight one copy to the Experian Commercial Relations Department (see note below for address). Scan and e-mail one copy to the Experian Credit Error Department. Overnight one copy to the CEO of Experian. Overnight one copy to your lawyer. Keep one copy (the copy you faxed) in your file next to your desk. Make sure you get a certified, return receipt from the post office on the copies that you mail to the Experian Commerical Relations Department and the Experian CEO. See links below where you can find phone numbers and addresses listed in this step. (Except for your lawyer, of course)
Step 6

Follow-up. Call the Experian Commercial Relations Department to make certain they received your letter. Follow-up a few days later to make sure they are working on it removing your Experian business credit report errors. Call your attorney and tell him to expect a parcel from you. Ask him to file it but to act no further unless you contact him. You do not want to rack up any attorney fees until absolutely necessary. Call Experian every few days to make sure they are working on resolving the business credit report errors. Tell them that they are putting your business at risk and that you cannot afford to wait for them to remedy the situation. Remind them that your attorney is looking into the business credit report errors.
Step 7

When you receive the corrected credit report from Experian, review it carefully to make sure all business credit report errors have been removed and that your information is correct and accurate.
Step 8

Get another business credit report. After a month or two, check your business credit report for errors again. Experian charges for subsequent reports. They offer subscriptions so you can pay them to access your information. Isn’t that nice? It’s a good idea to check your business credit report for errors a few times a year. You can’t afford to lose business because of their mistakes. If you call Experian Commercial Relations Department on your follow-up and complain, you may get the second report free as well. After all, it was their mistake that put you in this predicament in the first place.