Correcting Erroneous Credit Reports

People reviewing their credit reports sometimes find errors including the listing of a delinquent debt, which in fact is no longer owed. As a bankruptcy lawyer , I sometimes have clients returning to me long after their discharge asking, why debts that were discharged by the bankruptcy are still showing up on their credit reports. The simple answer is that credit reporting agencies make mistakes, lots of them, which of course leads to the question of what one can do to correct the errors.

By law when an individual challenges an item on a credit report the credit reporting agency is required to investigate and correct any errors within 30 days. Since credit reporting agencies are big bureaucracies that are not particularly user friendly, you have a better chance of success writing them a letter than calling on the phone. Many advisers would tell you that the letter should be sent certified. You should include with the letters copies of all documents that support your position. In the case of a bankruptcy I would include a copy of the notice of filing from the court and a copy of your discharge. It is also a good idea to include the pages from the credit report with the erroneous information circled. You should also write to the company that supplied the erroneous information to the credit reporting agency with the same documentation telling them to correct the mistake as well.

The results of this process are not always satisfactory. Sometimes after supposedly doing an investigation the credit reporting agency will conclude that it is no error. This is of course frustrating and while you can theoretically bring a law suit for damages in this situation, not many people want to go through that ordeal. Nevertheless the official procedure does correct the problem in many cases and should be used.