Credit Report Dispute Form

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Credit Report Dispute Form

The credit report dispute form allows a person to argue the contents of a credit report. Such reports are issued by credit reference agencies. They may contain mistakes. Correcting them can sometimes significantly increase one’s credit rating. The process of correcting the mistakes found in a credit report involves providing a relevant standardized form to the credit reference agency that has allowed the mistake in the report. The form is needed to describe and explain every inaccurate point the creditor has identified and request to make appropriate corrections.

What Is a Credit Report?

Credit reports can become the determining factor in what financial services or aids you can hope to apply for. These reports contain information that helps to judge how reliable you have been in regards to your finances. Lenders review these documents to make decisions about your eligibility and reliability for borrowing money.

Any meaningful information, including your name, addresses, and credit accounts, is incorporated in credit reports for the lenders to have access to them. The companies issuing these reports are called credit reference agencies.

What Information Do Credit Reports Contain?

Most of the information incorporated into credit reports is received from banks and building societies that you have been connected to. There are other sources of information too, such as the electoral register or utility and telecom providers.

You should expect the following details to be in a credit report:

  • Identification details
  • Credit history description (the duration, nature, how much you owe)
  • Missed or late payments
  • Credit accounts, mortgages, loans
  • Problematic inquiries attempts, meaning applications for credit made in the past year

Why You Should Keep Track of Your Credit Reports

As we said, credit reports may influence what financial services you may get access to. Even if you are not planning on taking a loan or entering any other credit relationship in the nearest future, you may still want to be aware of what is in your credit reports. Certainly, if you decide to apply for credit, you should examine your credit report, especially scrupulously.

There are several major credit reference agencies, and each of them would store information about an individual separately. It means that their reports may significantly differ. Whenever you decide that it is time to check your credit history, do that by accessing each of these agencies’ reports. Here are their names:

  • Experian
  • TransUnion
  • Equifax

Why You May Want to Dispute a Credit Report

Credit reports may impact your credibility positively or negatively in the eyes of lenders. Credit reports contain FICO scores, the most commonly accepted and used form of credit rating judgment. This score has a range of 300 to 850. Naturally, any individual who is interested in credit operations would aim for a score that is considered at least “good.” That means you would want to achieve a score at the higher end of the spectrum, from at least 670. A credit report dispute form may become useful in case you have noticed that your score has been negatively affected by mistake.

Some mistakes can actively negatively influence your score, for example, when a payment that has been made in time is listed as “late,” and some information can be missing from the report, while you may want to have it included. For example, if the credit reference agency has not listed activity from one of your credit cards, you would want it to be in the report. Otherwise, it may seem like you have a shorter or less impressive financial history or no financial history at all. Submitting a credit report dispute form to the credit reference agency that has allowed the mistake or miscalculation can increase your chances of getting better credit or other financial services.

How to Dispute the Credit Report

The easiest way to start the dispute process after you have noticed a mistake in your report is to create the credit report dispute form. When you complete it, send it together with two forms of ID to the agency that has made a mistake. The forms of ID should be a copy of a government-issued ID (you can use your driver’s license) and a copy of a utility, bank, or insurance statement. There is no charge for this service.

Before sending the form, check whether the other two agencies have the same errors in their reports. In such a case, you would want to send the credit dispute form to each of them.

Make sure you do not include any original documents and only send the copies. Including receipts or statements can be very helpful in resolving credit report disputes. The form also advises you to make a copy of it before sending it. Always keep a copy with your other personal records.

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How to Fill Out a Credit Report Dispute Form

Filling out a credit report dispute is fairly straightforward. Use our form-building software to achieve the best results in the shortest possible amount of time. Follow our step-by-step guide and send your credit report dispute form to the credit reference agency.

  • State the Creditor Name and the Account Number

First, print the creditor’s name and the account number.

step 1 state the creditor name and the account number filling out a credit report dispute form

  • Identify the Reason for Dispute

The credit dispute form allows you to address several dispute points. The most commonly appearing mistakes are listed in the form so that you can just check the box. Look at the suggested options and choose one that relates to your situation. You can also identify a different reason using the “Other (Explain)” option. Note that the second page of the form allows you to list more reasons.

step 2 identify the reason for dispute filling out a credit report dispute form

  • Add More Information

If any additional details need to be corrected, include them at the end of the section on the designated lines.

step 3 add more information filling out a credit report dispute form

  • Provide Your Full Contact Details

The next section requires you to print your full name (first, middle, and last), date of birth, address, and telephone number. Note that you need to include your previous addresses if you moved within the past two years.

step 4.1 provide your full contact details filling out a credit report dispute form
At the end of the section, provide your social security number and signature.

step 4.2 provide your social security number and signature filling out a credit report dispute form

  • Mail the Form

Depending on what agency has made a mistake in the report, send the form to the address. You also have an option to submit it online on their websites.