Sunday, February 22, 2009

How to Know if You Need a Credit Dispute Letter

By Kirk B. Mayors

There are many different reasons why you might need to write a credit dispute letter. For example, if you think you have reasonably good credit, but you receive a notice from a lender that you were denied for poor credit, naturally you'll assume there's a mistake on your credit report.

Sometimes, billing errors can result in negative credit reporting, requiring that you write a credit dispute letter to have this information removed. In some cases, debt collectors harass people by trying to collect long ago expired or invalid debts. Maybe you need to lower your monthly payments, or dispute an incorrect negative mark on your personal credit report. Credit bureaus are not perfect!

Whatever reasons you may have for writing a credit dispute letter, you should be careful how you go about it. You want to take care not to anger the credit agency. If your letter is successful, you can restore credit far more quickly than you imagined. The thing to keep in mind is that if the information can't be verified, the agency is required to remove it.

Write your letter in business form, but keep it brief, simple and friendly. A lot of personal information is not required. State the facts, send copies of the disputed report, with the questionable items highlighted, and don't in any way invoke hostility by threatening them with legal action or anything else. If you don't anger them, your claim will be handled in a much more efficient and satisfactory way.

When you mail the letter, make sure it is registered or certified, and requires a signature card. That is proof that you handled it and in what time frame. Save copies of everything you do; originals, if you have them.

You need to be very careful when you shop for items that will require a credit card or a loan. Do not give your full name, address, credit card, or social security number until you are actually going to make the purchase. Otherwise, each place you go could possible do a credit check on you before you even agree to buy.

Unfortunately, each time your credit is questioned it is added to your rating?or should I say subtracted?as many as three points for each inquiry about your credit! If your credit is a bit low, there are some quick fixes you can use to boost it quickly. Any delinquent debts should be paid off in full. It will raise your score immediately. Or charge something on a department store card and pay it off in two payments.

The one thing you definitely should avoid are scams by so-called credit repair companies. The Internet is teeming with them. There are plenty of dishonest lawyers around too. Remember that credit bureaus get your information from many different sources, so there is no easy fix for a bad credit history.

But, when there's been a mistake made on your report, it's in your best interest to write a credit dispute letter. It's not as difficult as you might think, and it can go along way toward restoring your credit. - 15224

About the Author: