Discover Debt Freedom!

One of the easiest and fastest ways to lower your interest rates and keep more of your own money in your pocket is to correct any mistakes that can be found on your credit report.  It is estimated that as many as 25% of the credit reports generated by the three major credit card bureaus contain some type of mistake that could have a negative effect on your credit score.  By having these mistakes fixed, you can raise your credit score which in turn will lower your interest rates for credit cards and other types of loan products.

Step One – Check Your Credit Reports
It is very important that you check your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus on a regular basis to look for any mistakes that may have been made on your credit report.  Each of the three credit reports can be obtained for free once per year at annualcreditreport.com per a law passed by the United States Government to protect consumers from fraudulent information being placed on their credit reports.  Reviewing the credit reports on a regular basis will help you find mistakes quickly while they are still easily corrected.

Step Two – Nicely Ask To Have Mistaken Items Reviewed And Corrected
Credit reporting bureaus are required by law to investigate any claims of mistaken items entered onto a credit report if the person requests that an entry be validated.  Calling and harassing the person that you need to help you will only make them less inclined to assist you and may make it even harder to get your credit report corrected.  Talk to the person that is trying to help you in a calm, clear manner and let them know exactly why you believe that the information incorrect and what proof you may have to validate your claim.

Step Three – Keep A Log Of Who You Talked To And When
Although many mistakes that are commonly found on credit reports can be taken care of quickly and easily, in some cases it will take multiple calls to multiple people to have the situation corrected.  It is very important for you to keep a log of who you talked to at what company while trying to take care of the issue so that further down the road you will have an accurate account of the steps you have taken to attempt to correct your credit report.  This will also allow you to sound intelligent as you move up the ranks of the company from the customer service reps to the managers because you will be able to tell them which employees from their company you have already spoken to.

Step Four – Check To See If You Have Any Independent Verification Of Your Claim
Most of the cases of incorrect information being placed on the credit report are a result of a company claiming that they never received a payment that has been paid.  In these cases, you may be able to prove that you have paid the company the money that was owed by producing a bank statement or a check receipt indicating when the company was paid and when the money was taken out of your account.  If an account for you had been opened for an address that you have never lived at, residency documents can prove that you had never lived at that address and the account is fraudulent.

Step Five – Prepare To Argue Your Case In Court
If all other reasonable avenues of dialog with the company have failed, you may need to prepare your case to be taken to court.  This is where records and detailed logs become helpful as you will be able to show the judge that you have done everything possible to have the issue resolved through other means and that you are truly dedicated to having the issue resolved.  For many cases, the company will be willing to settle and fix your account rather than having to prove their case in court, especially when they are the ones that are wrong.