The Most Effective Credit

Bureau Dispute Letter

This blog post is for the people who cannot afford my paid credit repair services in Los
Angeles and prefer a self help strategy.

So, I’ve distilled my 20 years of experience of fixing credit scores into an advanced
method credit bureau dispute letter with specific instructions on how to utilize it.

Here’s what you need to know: The Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (FCRA) Section 611
allows for consumers to challenge questionable items on their credit reports. So you
have a right to dispute information that you believe to be incorrect.

This includes questionable late payments charge-offs, collections, tax liens,

bankruptcies, judgments, foreclosures, or any personal identification information.
What this means is, virtually any “questionable” negative or inaccurate information
the credit bureaus (also known as credit reporting agencies) have for you can be
disputed and their deletion may result in a credit score increase.

Table of Contents
o Proof this letter works, Check out these results I’ve got for my clients!
 Sample credit bureau dispute letter :
 Experian Address for disputes:
 Equifax Address for disputes:
 Transunion Address for disputes:
 How to write a credit bureau dispute letter:
 Best dispute reasons to use with a credit bureau dispute letter:
 What Items to enclose with the credit bureau dispute Letter
 How to dispute accounts with credit bureaus: Phone, Mail, Online or Fax?
 Common mistakes to avoid with credit dispute letters
 What accounts you should never challenge with credit bureaus
 What type of accounts can you remove with a credit report dispute letter:
 How to dispute recent late payments and recent collections
o How to file regulatory complaints against the bureaus and creditors:
 The sample method of verification letter
 If credit bureau disputes are not successful, seek professional help :

Proof this letter works, Check out these

results I’ve got for my clients!
These are actual confirmation of removal of accounts from the credit bureaus:
Now, let’s start with the basics.

Sample credit bureau dispute letter :

Here is a free dispute letter sample that works:

Full Name_____

Mailing Address:________

Date of Birth________

{Date}_______

RE: Investigation Request to Delete Credit Inquires

To whom it may concern,

In accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 611 (15 U.S.C. § 1681I), I
am practicing my right to challenge questionable information that I have found on
my personal credit report. I do not recognize the information listed below and
request that you investigate the source of these accounts and ascertain that the
creditor had a permissible purpose, and is able to verify my complete file
information including full name, address, date of birth and SSN#.

INCORRECT ACCOUNT INFORMATION

The accounts below are reporting incorrectly please investigate these:
1. {Creditor Name}________ {ac#} _______{Reason for Dispute}_________
2. {Creditor Name}________ {ac#}________ {Reason for Dispute}__________
3. {Creditor Name}________ {ac#}________ {Reason for Dispute}___________

INCORRECT CREDIT INQUIRIES

I am disputing the following inquiries which I did not authorize:
1. {Creditor Name}_______ {inquiry date}_______
2. {Creditor Name}_______ {inquiry date}_______

REMOVE INCORRECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

I am disputing the following personal information that is showing for me which is
incorrect:
1. Incorrect SSN {xxx-xx-xx xx }______
2. Incorrect Address { insert address}_________
3. Incorrect Name Variations { Insert name}________

UPDATE PERSONAL INFORMATION

Also please update the following information which I saw your credit bureau to be
missing or incomplete:
1. Personal current address {insert correct address}__________
2. My proper full { insert your correct full name, if the bureau has listed it
incorrectly}________
3. My date of birth { insert date of birth, if bureau has it listed
incorrectly}_________
4. My current employment info { insert employer name, address and your position, if
the bureau is missing this info}__________

I am allowing you 30 days to complete this investigation after which I authorize you
to mail me my updated credit reports along with the investigation results

Truly,

{Name}______

{Signature}____________

Experian Address for disputes:

If Sending to Experian:

Mail to Experian, P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013

Equifax Address for disputes:

If Sending to Equifax

mail to : Equifax P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0256}

Transunion Address for disputes:

If Sending to Transunion:

mail to : Transunion, Consumer Disputes, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016

How to write a credit bureau dispute letter:

Use the credit dispute letter template provided above. Fill in with your personal and
account information using the steps below:

STEP 1: Identify yourself

Fill in: your personal identification information, current address, date of birth, and
SSN.

STEP 2: Choose items to dispute

List the erroneous personal identification information you are disputing along with a
list of the questionable accounts and inquiries.

For each account, list the creditor name and the account number, along with the
reason for your dispute.

Best dispute reasons to use with a credit bureau dispute

letter:
Examples of dispute reasons you can use are follows:

The Account does not belong to me.

The account payment history is incorrect.

The account is too old to be on the credit report.

The account was paid prior to collection.

Incorrect amount.

Incorrect last payment date.

Incorrect Status.

The account belongs to someone else with a similar name.

Creditor agreed to delete account from credit report.

What Items to enclose with the credit bureau dispute Letter
The credit bureaus require you to verify your identity in order for them to investigate
and send you dispute results back

–Photo ID: This could be any state or government-issued identification

–Proof of Residency: This could be a recent utility bill, or bank statement, mortgage
statement, or a copy of your home rental agreement. It should show your name and
current mailing address.

— Proof of SSN#: This could be any state or government document showing your
SSN#. Or a page from your tax return, W-2, paystub, or 1099, etc.

Any Supporting Documentation: This could include anything that could support
your dispute claim, like a letter of deletion from the creditor.
Wait for 30 Days for the Dispute Completion:

Within 30 days after receipt of the letters by the bureaus, you should receive the
investigation results from them.

SIMILAR READ: How to Remove Charge-Offs from a Credit Report

The results will show what accounts were disputed and whether they were deleted,
updated with new information, or remain unchanged. Learn more about how to
remove dispute comments .

How to dispute accounts with credit bureaus: Phone, Mail,

Online or Fax?
Most consumers dispute accounts by phone or online.
This is a huge mistake!

The three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion, allow you to
pull a free credit report directly from their websites every 12 months, or from
annualcreditreport.com, or through sites like CreditKarma.

Those reports will provide you with a link to dispute online and a phone number for
the credit bureau’s customer service dispute center. (Learn more about how to contact
credit bureaus here )

Phone and online disputes, although maybe the simplest ways to dispute. Any
serious credit repair expert will tell you never to use this method.

Why? Consumers are at a disadvantage every time they do this.

Firstly, the credit bureaus make consumers agree to innocuous-sounding waivers,

which in fact make clients give up their rights to re-investigation.

Second, without a proper paper trail, the credit bureaus do not have to fear the threat
of lawsuits. So the bureaus can take online and phone disputes less seriously.

This means less thoroughly investigated disputes that lead to items not being deleted
from the credit report.
So using an actual credit dispute letter and mailing or faxing will serve you much
better.

Common mistakes to avoid with credit dispute letters

So over the years, I’ve seen clients of mine make errors that end up hurting their
chances for deletion. Here are ways to avoid these mistakes:

A) You shouldn’t threaten legal action of any

kind unless you have reason to do so.
B) Do not dispute any positive items on your
credit report, once removed they cannot be re-
inserted.
C) Do not dispute any inquiries linked to accounts you’ve legitimately opened, your
inquiry dispute will be forwarded to the creditor, who may close the account fearing
fraud.

D) Make sure to include entire account numbers if the same creditor is reporting
multiple accounts. You do not want the wrong account disputed and deleted.

What accounts you should never challenge with credit

bureaus
I absolutely cannot stress this enough; When trying to repair your credit, DO
NOT dispute any legitimate debts that fell behind recently, which you cannot
afford to pay off.

Here’s why – Creditors can legally sue consumers within the statute of limitations
they are allowed by the state the debtor resides in.So, check the statute of limitation
for debts in your states before disputing any large unpaid accounts.

For example in California, the statute of limitations for debts is 4 years.

Here’s what this means: If you live in California, creditors can sue you for up to 4
years from the time you defaulted on a debt. Disputing accounts that lie within the
statute of limitations may incite the creditor to take legal action against you. But this
does not pertain to items that are resulting from identity theft .

What type of accounts can you remove with a credit report

dispute letter:
You can dispute the following questionable items:

Credit account-related Disputes: Charge-offs, late payments, missed payments,

collections (including medical bills), repossessions, student loans, installment loans,
auto loans, mortgage foreclosures. Virtually any account that is reporting on your
credit file.

Public records: These include, IRS tax liens, state tax liens, judgments, and
bankruptcies.

Credit Inquiries: Requests for your personal credit report, aka credit inquiries, are
recorded by the credit bureaus and kept on record for 2 years. You can dispute credit
inquiries that are questionable and improve your credit scores by getting them
deleted.

Personal information: You can dispute to get removed or have the bureaus update
all your personal information including your name, current address and previous
addresses, your phone number, your employment information, your date of birth,
and SSN#.

How to dispute recent late payments and recent collections

Something you must know – Any recent collection, or recent late payments, cannot be
removed from your credit report with a credit bureau dispute letter.

How to remove these:

Recent late payments: For recent late payments within the last 2 years or on open
accounts, the only way to get these expunged is by utilizing the direct creditor
dispute method. For older late payments, the credit bureau dispute letter would
work.

Recent collection accounts: For recent collection accounts, which fell behind within
the last 4 years that are valid, the most effective way to get these expunged is to
utilize the pay for delete method, where you offer to settle the account in exchange for
deletion from your credit report.

Older collection accounts: Or for re-aged collection accounts, you’ll need a debt
validation letter, where you challenge the debt with the debt collector first.

After the collection company receives your letter, only then should you send out a
credit bureau dispute letter. This way the collector is being asked for verifications on
two fronts, by you directly and from the bureaus as well.

What to do if the credit bureaus do not correct

your credit report
Sometimes the bureaus won’t send you the investigation results, as they may deem
your identification information incomplete.

Regardless, they are required to investigate the items you requested.

So, here’s what you do:

Pull your updated credit report after about 35 days from the time you mailed out the
dispute letters.

Then check on each bureau if there have been any deletions or any accounts showing
they are “under re-investigation.”

These two indicators should let you know if the bureaus actually investigated your
claim or not.

If you find no such indicators, refer back to your certified mail tracking information
and confirm the bureaus received the letters.

If the letters were received, then you can move to lodge complaints against the
bureaus, as discussed below.

How to file regulatory complaints against the

bureaus and creditors:
In the event that the bureaus do not investigate or correct your credit report,

Then you take more extreme measures…

You lodge a regulatory complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) at www.consumerfinance.gov.

What’s great about the CFPB is, you can also lodge complaints against creditors and
collection companies here.

The CFPB forwards these complaints to the party you lodge a complaint, who must
respond back to the CFPB within 30 days with a resolution.
They also collects data on the number of complaints filed against each institution
and may take regulatory action against them if they notice a pattern of violations.

Using the Section 604 dispute letter/ Method of Verification Letter

Now if the CFPB compliant doesn’t do the trick

Here’s what you do then:

You exercise your right under the FCRA Section 609 and Section 604 to request a
method of verification.

Through another important tool known as the section 609 dispute letter or section 604
dispute letter, both dispute letters are similar.

This is how it works – you’re asking the creditors to provide you with details
pertaining to how and with whom they verified the information you disputed.

The sample method of verification letter

Here is the template for the Method of verification letter:

Full Name

Mailing Address:

Date of Birth

{If Sending to Experian: P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013}

{If Sending to Equifax: P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0256}

{If Sending to Transunion: Consumer Disputes, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016}

{Date}

RE: Investigation Request to Delete Credit Inquires

I sent your company my dispute on {Date}, which you received and investigated on.
I have reason to believe that you conducted a reasonable investigation. therefore, I
am invoking the Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 611 to ask that you provide me
with the following information:

1. The date you contacted the creditor

2. The contact information for the creditor
3. The name of the person who verified the item to you
4. The method of communication you used to verify this information
5. Did the creditor provide you with my SSN, address, and Date of Birth?
I am allowing you 30 days to complete this investigation after which I authorize you
to mail me my updated credit reports along with the investigation results

Truly,

{Name}

{Signature}

If credit bureau disputes are not successful, seek

professional help :
Now credit bureau disputes are not the end all solution for credit repair and often
don’t remove all negative items.
Hence, some cases require professional and legal help, especially when a handful of
stubborn items are keeping your score down

Over the last 20 years, I have helped my clients remove hundreds of late payments
from their records.

Reach out if you’d like to see if I can help you too!