Clearing your credit report of past delinquencies or mistakes is a sure way of enhancing your credit prospects. Being a complete statement of your credit history, a credit report is the ultimate reference point for those who offer financial assistance. Even a slight blemish on the report may mar the prospects of getting credit.
Possible Blemishes: Clearing Your Credit Report
A bad credit report could be a result of:
-
Clerical mistakes: This includes typing mistakes in your name, address, phone numbers, account numbers, amount, etc. A slight displacement of figures in the social security number can identify you as somebody else. Therefore, the process of clearing your credit report starts with reading for spelling and clerical mistakes.
-
Bad payment history: If you missed payments or allowed your account to get into collections, the payment history section will show this and your credit rating will dip significantly.
Clearing Your Credit Report through a Credit Report Letter
A letter is the preferred mode of communication for clearing your credit report. The key to writing a successful and a convincing credit report letter is to substantiate your claims with proofs. One should try to keep the letter as precise as possible, with professionalism and courtesy maintained at all times. Do not try to sensitize the reader, rather highlight the errors and request for corrections with due reasons. Do not threaten the credit agencies.
Follow these steps to increase the chances of clearing your credit report quickly:
-
Get copies of your credit report and highlight the areas of the report that you are disputing.
-
Send the copy first to the creditor asking for corrections.
-
Send another copy to the credit agency with attached proof.
-
Write back to the credit agency as soon as you get their reply. Remember corrections may take a long time, therefore be patient.
-
Use words like unverifiable, misleading or erroneous to highlight the mistakes.
If you identify that missed payments are the reason of your bad credit history, try to pay off the smaller balances before the bigger ones. This way you decrease the number of creditors and hence improve your credit history a bit.
Remember, clearing your credit report may take a lot of time and could include your interaction with the creditors and the credit agencies for deletion of bad credits. Therefore, give it ample time and commitment.