If you could improve your credit score would you?
Of course you would…
Well the first thing you will need is all three of your credit reports. Yes, all three! You are going to have to get your reports from all three major credit bureaus. They are Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Forget about the free versions. What you will want to do is pay for them and also get your FICO credit score all at the same time. Ok this is why…
Your credit report contains all your financial history on which your credit score is based including errors and mistakes. If you can alter or update the information in your credit reports, your credit scores will change to reflect the new data.
Getting and checking all your credit reports for errors is one of the first things you can do to repair your entire credit history and boost your average score. You may find errors in one report that are not in the others which is why all three reports are necessary.
This is how to deal with errors on your credit reports to boost your credit scores:
You will want to dispute all errors on your credit reports.
You will have to contact all three credit bureaus and get copies of your credit reports. Sure, this will cost a few dollars but you have to do it. You will want to read over the reports and make note of all errors.
Then you will have to contact the credit bureaus, in writing. Show them the mistakes and ask that the mistakes be removed or investigated.
They call this a ‘dispute letter’ and the bureaus by law have to accept them. The are required to investigate your dispute within thirty days of receiving your letter. Make sure you send your letter “Return Receipt Requested” via the U.S. Postal Service. This will cost you about $3.00 but it’s well worth it. The “Return Receipt” will tell you the date the letter was received at the credit burea. It is important to keep copies of everything, including your letter and your postal receipt to establish a paper trial.
In your letter you should not be threatening or abusive. Be calm and clear and explain the problem and request an investigation.
You must be pro-active with these bureaus. Make sure you follow up with the issues you raised in your letter. Just because the agency investigates is no guarantee that your credit report will be cleared up or that they will even inform you.
Most credit bureaus now make it possible for you to request corrections to your credit report right from the Internet and many have information on their web sites that tells you exactly how disputes must be handled. It is important that you follow this information exactly so that the inaccuracies on your credit report are removed promptly and your credit score is updated as soon as possible.
You shouldn’t assume that getting mistakes corrected on one report that they will automatically be fixed on the others. You have to handle each bureau individually. If all three have the same error, contact all three to get it corrected because you never know which credit report will be accessed by a creditor. Not all lenders use all three bureaus for credit information.
You can also add a note to your credit report if there is a problem you can’t resolve.
When adding a note to your report, be very brief and to the point. Don’t write a 5 page letter! Lenders, if they wish, may ask you for more detail during the credit application process.
Some financial institutions will pay attention to such information and some will not, but it is a better option than nothing at all. Such notes will not affect your FICO score but will affect your credit history. More importantly, it leaves a paper trail of the problem that lenders can consider if they choose.
Fixing credit report errors is only a first step towards boosting your FICO score but it is a vital step that you should take starting today.
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