I recomend that everyone checks their credit report at least once a year to check for errors. You might be surprised at how often there are errors on credit reports. You may find that you need to contact one or more of the credit reporting agencies with a dispute letter if you are keeping an eye on your credit reports. The law limits the time period that negative information can stay on your credit report to 7 - 10 years in most cases. If you think that a negative item is past the limit for reporting or does not belong to you report it. The law requires the credit reporting agencies to investigate disputes in a timely manner, and to remove any negative information that a consumer disputes if it cannot be verified within 30 days. Here are some dispute letter examples you might want to use to dispute an error on a credit report.

Dispute letter 1

Date
Your Name
Your Address,
City, State, Zip Code

Name of Company
Address
City, State, Zip Code

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to dispute the following information in my file.

This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors or tax court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate or incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am requesting that the item be deleted (or request another specific change) to correct the information. Please investigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Your name


Dispute letter 2

Today's Date
Credit Bureau Name (Experian, Trans Union or Equifax)
Address (you can get it from their website)

Dear Sir or Madam:

I recently received a copy of my credit report from your company, and I found inaccurate information within the report. I am writing to request that this information be corrected. I have completed the online dispute form through your website, and I am following up with this letter to provide additional documentation.

I request that you research the items listed below and respond to me within 30 days of your receipt of this letter, in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I have enclosed a copy of the erroneous credit report I received from your company, along with other documentation that supports my dispute.

{Here you should describe the erroneous error.}

When the item(s) listed above have been corrected, please send an updated report to me and to anyone who might have requested my credit report within the last six months. If I do not respond to my dispute within 30 days, I will assume you are unable to verify the disputed information, which means you must correct or remove the items listed.

Sincerely,

Your full name
Your address
Home phone number
Your social security number