If you wish to dispute an item included on your credit report, you may contact one or more of the following Credit Reporting Bureaus: Equifax – PO Box 105783, Atlanta, GA 30348, Phone: 800-685-5000; Experian – National Consumer Assistance Center – PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, Phone: 865-539-5391, and TransUnion – Consumer Relations – PO Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022, Phone: 800-916-8800.

Be sure and hold onto copies of all documents related to your dispute. Never send in your original credit report, or creditor statements you’re using as support for your dispute. It is very important that you keep a good file on your credit dispute process, and have all items if requested in the future. To ensure that your complaints are heard, CheckPoint suggests to always send dispute letters and other correspondence by registered mail. The tracking number will become an important part of your dispute records.

Depending on the item that is an error, along with your credit report dispute consider contacting the creditor directly. A lot of information is handled via automated systems these days, and computers can make mistakes, or an employee could accidentally wrongly key in important information. Creditors, once contacted, should contact the credit bureau to resolve issues on your behalf.

After a credit bureau receives your dispute credit report error, they have approximately 30 days to investigate. The credit bureaus will attempt to prove the item is not an error. If this cannot be done within the time allotted the item will be deleted. However, if the bureau later finds the item disputed is correct, it will be reinserted into your credit file.