Tag Archives: dispute
Fix Wrong Information In Your Credit Report — TODAY (Page 1 of 2)
Other than eating, sleeping, and breathing, one of the most important things you should be doing on a regular basis is ensuring that the data in your credit report is accurate. That is such a simple statement, yet it is ignored by the vast majority of consumers, probably due to several factors, such as:
* Consumers seem to accept the fact that errors will self correct in a reasonable period of time, where in reality nothing could be further from the truth.
* Consumers dont know how to find out if there is wrong information on their credit report, which impacts their total credit score negatively.
* Consumers dont realize that having a low credit score (lower than what they deserve, if the information maintained by the credit bureaus was accurate) can impact a huge number of factors in their everyday lives.
* Consumers dont realize that studies have shown that the MAJORITY of credit reports on consumers and businesses have errors and inaccuracies.
Your credit score is used by anyone loaning you money such as credit card companies, home loan lenders, auto loan lenders and finance companies. You need to find out what your credit score is before you talk to any lender in case there is something on your report that they may question. Your credit score is the actual number ranging from 300 to 850 that lenders use to judge your creditworthiness and the interest rate theyll charge you. Having a credit score lower than what you actually deserve could mean the difference between getting approved for a loan or credit card, or being denied. If you are approved, a lower credit score can mean the difference of the lender assessing a 14% interest rate or a 6% interest rate, which can cost you hundreds and even thousands of dollars more at the end of the loan period.
The big three credit bureaus are required to give you a free copy of your credit report annually, or any time that you have been denied credit based on information that they provided to a potential lender. It may take some time to get through to the credit bureaus to request a copy of your credit report, but this is well worth your time to do so. Be sure to get a copy of it from all three of them, since some lenders only report to one or two of them. This means that the information on your credit report from one credit bureau is almost certainly not going to be identical to the data from another credit bureau.
If you notice any errors on your report, you should complete a dispute form with the credit bureau. When they send you a copy of your credit report, they will usually include instructions on how to file a dispute for erroneous or inaccurate information. Some experts say that if you are disputing say 5 different items, you should file 5 separate dispute forms so each one can be addressed specifically. There is some merit to that discussion, since the credit bureaus may view a dispute consisting of many items as frivolous and not take appropriate action to correct the information.
Defaulted Student Loan
A defaulted student loan will put you in a complicated situation. You will likely have to repay the loan and your credit will be ruined.
When your student loan goes into default, your account is turned over to collection agencies and various collection procedures begin. In addition, the government can garnish your social security benefits, your wages, and more.
According to a law that Congress created called the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you only have a negative mark on your credit report for a maximum of seven years. Although, these debts can be collected upon for life!
If you have a defaulted student loan on your report you are likely to have to pay interest rates of roughly 25% and place large down payments, just to be approved. More often than not you will be turned away for a new line of credit.
You should dispute the collection marks on your report. There is hope you can remove this mark from your report and, with some luck, you may be able to remove the debt entirely.
A dispute letter should be sent to each bureau containing a reason as to why the mark is not correct. Examples may be the account is paid in full, the mark has already been reported for seven years, not my account, and so forth.
This is the most difficult item to negotiate on a credit report and thus we suggest that you should hire a credit repair service to dispute it on your behalf. The benefit is you will have a licensed attorney fighting for you and there are continuously new laws passed by congress to help protect consumers.
We feel hiring an expert is worth the money since your credit score impacts every aspect of your life. This is a good idea since, compared to the high cost of a low credit score, hiring an expert can be done at very reasonable rates.
Please be aware that a private loan, such as one with Sallie Mae, will be difficult to remove but easier than a federal loan. A loan from the government, such as a Stafford loan or the Perkins loan, will be much harder to remove from your report.
When the bureaus receive your dispute letter they will contact the creator of the negative mark and ask them to verify the debt. They will verify that the account is yours, the dates are correct, and the balance of the account.
If the account can not be verified then the negative mark must be removed from your credit report. This is due to the Fair Credit Reporting Act saying that any unverifiable mark on your credit report must be removed.
It is estimated that 1 in every 4 people have an error on the report that is costing them money in higher interest rates. The bureaus and lenders make errors all the time, but your credit is the one that will suffer. If this mark is in error, be sure to send any documentation that you have with your dispute letter to prove it is in error.
In closing, if you have a defaulted student loan on your credit report, it does not mean you will have a low credit score for the rest of your life. Defaulted student loans are removed from credit reports every day. To do this, we suggest you dispute this mark with the credit bureaus.