If you find that you have bad info on your credit bureaureport that you need to dispute, you can either do it yourself or hire a reputable credit attorney. If you choose to handle re-establishing your credit worthiness yourself to avoid spending cash, you will have to know the process. You will need to collect all pertinent information regarding the erroneous post to your credit and write the credit bureaus and the collection agency.

First thing you will need to do is compose written letter to the credit bureaus that has the misinformation on your report. You will need to specify exactly why you believe that the information on your credit bureau report is not valid. For example you will have to provide proof of whether the information is false, reported wrong or is fraudulent. If you can provide proof of your claims such as a receipt, old statement or a police report, you should include them in your correspondence.

The next people you should correspond with will be the actual creditor or collection agency that placed the negative item on your credit rating report. When you write the creditors it is important that you have a copy your free triple score credit report with you so you can include all important information from your report to your letter. Your letter should ask your creditors to provide proof of your negative account with them. It is important that you send your letter certified mail to ensure that your correspondence is received. You must also make sure to keep copies of all your letters for future reference.

After your letters have been sent, the credit agency will investigate your claims and will respond back to you within 30 to 45 days. Your creditors or collection agencies will have 30 days to verify and provide proof that the negative item(s) on you credit reported correctly. If proof cannot be furbished within that time period, then they will have to eradicate the negative item(s). This process can take several months of correspondence before it is resolved, but if you truly believe that the information on your report is incorrect, then it will be well worth it.

The process of re-establishing a damaged credit bureau report can be time consuming. That is the reason that I truly recommend that you give the utmost importance to protecting your free triple score. Remember if you are not able or just do not have the time to handle the process of investigating your credit bureau report; you can always hire a proven credit counselor for a reasonable price.

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But do you know how to check credit reports online and realise it is very easy and free? If you have been refused an application for credit then the first step is to write to the credit reference agency that they used asking for a copy of your report. Then check the report and ensure any errors corrected.

It is more recommended to do the check before applying for the credit ? close the stable door before the horse bolts! Credit reference agencies allow you to check your report online and there are many systems about that will give you regular updates as things change on your credit file. Usually there is a free trial, or so much of the information is free, followed by a paid membership or payments for extra functions.

If you want to check you report in advance of taking out credit, then the free trials are usually enough. Quite quickly you can have access to your credit information and see the data that the lenders will be looking at as part of their decision process. Some reports will even give you an approximate indication of your credit status.

On top of the report, the potential lender will also use your income, which the credit report will not include. This means that it is only an approximation, but it will show you any nasty surprises, such as payments that you forgot you had missed last year.

Once you have viewed and checked your credit file, you might have found slight errors in the report. In this case you have to write to the lender that provided the incorrect information and ask them to amend their records. Once they have done this, they will then update your credit report.

It is also possible that there are searches recorded on your credit report you are not aware of. These are recorded each time a potential lender views your report in order to decide whether to lend you money. If any of these are not familiar to you, it is worth checking them out. If there are many of these, or for high sums of money, then be very careful with your checking as it can be a sign of identity theft.

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If you are about to apply for a mortgage, loan, new credit card or any other form of credit, then you might have sensibly decided that it is time to get a free credit report. With loans so difficult to come by at present, this certainly is a good and welcome move and could potentially avert the disaster of being refused in error.

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But do you know how to check credit reports and realise it is very easy and free? If you have been refused by a lender then the first step is to write to the credit reference agency that they used asking for a copy of your report. Then check the report and get any errors corrected.

It is far better though to do the check before applying for the credit – close the sable door before the horse bolts! Credit reference agencies allow you to check your report online and there are many systems about that will give you regular updates as things change on your credit report.

If you are just wanting to check you report in advance of taking out credit, then the free trials are usually sufficient. Quite quickly you can have access to your credit information and see the data that the lenders will be looking at as part of their decision process. Some reports will even give you an approximate indication of your credit status.

On top of the report, the potential lender will also consider your income, which the credit report will not show. This means that it is only an approximation, but it will show you any nasty surprised, such as loans that you forgot you had missed payments on last year.

Once you have seen your credit report file and checked it, you might have found slight errors in the report. In this case you have to write to the lender that provided the information and ask them to amend their records. Once they have done this, they will then update your credit report.

It is also possible that there are searches recorded on your credit report you are not aware of. These are recorded every time a potential lender views your report in order to decide whether to lend you money. If some of these are not familiar to you, it is worth checking them out. If there are a lot of these, or for a lot of money, then be very careful with your checking as it can be a sign of identity theft.

Information will stay on your report for typically at least 6 years after it completed. For example, loans that are paid off, county court judgements and arrears will show for usually around 6 years. Searches, where a lender has looked at your report, will only usually show for about 12 months.

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Related articles:

• Dispute Credit Letter – Remove Bad Credit On Your Credit Report
• 5 Reasons Why You May Be Turned Down For Finance
• Free Credit Reports