Nothing held back
How to do all of this yourself, for nothing
This is the whole method, in order. It is what we would do on your file, written out so you can do it without us. If you are willing to be specific, keep proof, and chase on the day it is late, you do not need to hire anybody.
Publishing this costs us clients. We would rather lose the ones who were never going to get value than take their money to find out.
Get all three reports
FreeGo to annualcreditreport.com. It is the site the law set up and it is free. Get all three, because an item is often on one and not the others, and you dispute with the agency that is reporting it.
Watch forAny site that asks for a card number for a free report is not the free report.
Read them with a pen
FreeGo line by line. You are looking for accounts you do not recognise, balances that are wrong, dates that are wrong, and the same debt appearing twice under two names.
Watch forA collection agency reporting a debt the original lender is also still reporting is a real problem worth writing about.
Write one letter per item
FreeSay which item, say the specific thing that is wrong, and say what the truth is. Attach what proves it. Do not send a template that disputes everything, because a dispute that looks automated can be dismissed as frivolous.
Watch forUnder FCRA 611(a)(3) an agency may refuse a dispute it reasonably determines is frivolous. Specificity is what keeps you out of that bucket.
Send it so the arrival is provable
A few dollars in postagePost it with tracking and keep the receipt. The 30 days runs from when they receive it, so the date of arrival is the only date that matters and you want to hold it yourself.
Watch forOnline dispute portals are quick, but you get less of a paper trail. That trade is yours to make.
Write the due date on a calendar
FreeThirty days from the day it arrived. Forty five if you send more information during the period. Put it somewhere you will see it, because nobody else is going to remind you.
Watch forFCRA 611(a)(1)(A) and (B). This is the number the whole process turns on.
On the due date, act
FreeIf nothing came, chase it. If it came back verified, you can ask how they checked and they have 15 days to tell you. If you still disagree, you can add a hundred word statement to the file.
Watch forA complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also free, and it is often the thing that moves a stuck file.
When it is worth paying somebody
Not often, and we would rather say that here than on a call after you have signed. It is usually worth it when there is a lot of it, when the same problem is on all three reports in different forms, or when you have already sent one round and got nowhere.
- More items than you will realistically keep track of on a calendar.
- A first round that came back verified and you do not know what to do next.
- A deadline of your own, like a mortgage application, where somebody chasing daily matters.
When it is not
If any of these is your situation, keep your money. We will tell you the same thing on the free review, and you will have lost nothing but half an hour.
- One or two items, and you are organised.
- The information is accurate. Nobody can move it and it will age off.
- The item drops off in the next few months anyway.
- You need the money more than you need the letters, which is often true.
Where to go, and what it costs
| What | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Your three credit reports | annualcreditreport.com, the site the law set up | Free |
| Disputing an item | Direct with the agency reporting it, by post or through their portal | Postage |
| Asking how they verified it | The same agency, within a reasonable time of the result | Free |
| Adding your own statement to the file | The agency. Usually capped at one hundred words | Free |
| Complaining about a company | The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or your state attorney general | Free |