How to Solve Credit Rating Disputes
Now more than ever, it is important to know and manage your credit score if you want to get a small business loan, and one reason to check your credit report is to look for errors and have them corrected as soon as possible. According to ConsumerReports, consumers find close to 13 million credit report inaccuracies a year in the form of erroneous late payments, other people’s debt information, and even nonpayment of a bill dating to before they were born.
So you find an error. What can you do? For starters you need to contact all three main credit bureaus to report the error and request an investigation.
The main three are listed below:
Trans Union
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
1-800-888-4213
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
1-800-997-2493
Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
1-888-397-3742
One effective way to resolve the issue is to write a certified letter to all three of these credit bureaus asking them to investigate and remove the error. Be sure to include a copy of the credit report with the item to be investigated highlighted, and remind them that they have 30 days under federal law to look into it. You might also request that they send you a description of the procedure they use within 15 days of completion of the investigation. You should also ask that they send a corrected report to all creditors who have received a copy within the past 6 months, or even within 2 years in the case of employment.
Another option is to pick up the phone, but it is always tricky these days to reach a real person. According to the gethuman database, you can reach a human at the three main credit bureaus by following these instructions:
Trans Union: Press 2 at each prompt, ignoring message.
Equifax: Press 30 at each prompt, ignoring message.
Experian: Say “yes”; enter report #; enter social security #; say “yes”; say “agent” then “yes” to confirm at prompts thereafter.
After you reach a person it is advisable to record the individual’s name and the time and date of the phone call and send a follow-up certified letter (as described above) that also references the conversation.
