Credit Repair

Has anyone tried to Repair their Credit by Disputing accounts on the 3 major credit agencies?

I am attemping to do this but if anyone knows where to find a good template for the letter, or a sample format and content, then please share this info with me. Does this process work on open/active accounts, such as, student loans or auto loans? If not, then should I exclude those accounts from my letter?

Public Comments

1. Writing to the credit agency is useless, since they are reporting what the creditors tell them to report. I wrote to the collection agencies and creditors directly (certified mail) and copied the 3 agencies (also certified mail). I notified the agencies/creditors of their error and quoted the Fair Credit Reporting Act that they had 30 days to fix the problem, or it had to be removed from my credit report. I usually asked for signed copies of my receipts adding up to the total amount of the debt (for credit card). Because the credit card companies only keep those records for 6 months (by that time, it had been years), the debts were removed.
2. Well you could certainly dispute some accounts, but it won't repair your credit unless it is true that you don't owe on those accounts. Creditors are going to be highly suspicious of disputes if there are more than one. Simply disputing the amounts doesn't absolve you from paying them or avoid the credit hit. In fact putting them into dispute does not at all affect your credit score. What does affect it would be if a disputed account is resolved in your favor and you no longer are deemed to owe the money....it would lower your outstanding credit and slightly raise your score. Remember that more than 2/3rds of your score is how timely you make payments and how much outstanding credit you have.
3. You might want to try DisputeDemon.com http://www.disputedemon.com/credit-score/
4. Technically, repair is the wrong word. You're correcting your credit report. You shouldn't need any kind of format letter to dispute a charge. If you have the information needed, just notify the credit bureaus that Company X is listed on my report showing I owe $ but I have paid off of the company as of XYZ date or the amount currently showing is over # of months old and is incorrectly refelcting my current debt. If you have any back up to prove your statement, then including a copy of it is to your advantage. The bureaus just want you to tell them who you're having issue with and why. They don't need you to list everyone unless you're having an issue with everyone. You can dispute any and all itemson your report whether they be open, closed, charged off, sold, etc. Keep in mind that the amounts reflected on your reports may be 2-3 months behind the current amounts. You can see the last time the account has reported information on your credit report. If you have a car loan that shows you owe $5000 and the company hasn't updated your loan amount since December 2005, you can clearly dispute the amount reflected on your account. The company has 30 days to report or the bureau will drop the item from the report. Problems with answers above is that threatening the companies to either change or remove won't make the companies do anything. The bureaus contact the companies as well. Again, if you have backup, the better off you are. The company won't care how loud you yell or what paragraph of the Fair Credit Reporting Act you quote or what ever you're threatening to do because 99% of threats are idle threats that end up with no action from the person making the threats. I had issues as such in the past and I got resolutions becasue I followed up on my threats. One company rep laughed at me over the phone as I threatened to contact the state attorney general. Told me to go right ahead, do whatever I want. They changed thier tune when I faxed their office complaint paperwork headed for the state's attorney general complete with names, amounts call dates and times, the rep's name and his actions, and the dispute I had etc etc. Faxing over the stamped and addressed envelope didn't hurt either. I got an apologetic call from the rep and got what needed to be corrected done immediately. Also, yes, an account in dispute will have an effect on your score. There are people out there that dispute items and then fill out applications trying to time the removed debt with getting a car loan or mortgage. In the electronic age, it is harder and harder to apply for a loan and hope that the account you disputed hasn't been put back on your report. It's not right, but it happens.
5. I use to have very bad credit, this is what i did. A friend suggested using, www.repairmyfinance.com. Its an info web site you do have to pay like 15 bucks in order to access there 295 pages of info but its worth it. They walk you thourgh the steps in order to rebuild your credit. I got my first credit card in about a month. Oh and by the way there no such thing as someone els repairing your credit for you, they are all gimicks.