Your credit report contains information about where you work, live and how you pay your bills (On time or not). It also may show whether you’ve been sued, arrested or have filed for bankruptcy with in the last 10 years. Companies called consumer reporting agencies (cra) or credit bureaus compile and sell your credit report to businesses all over the world.

Many financial advisors suggest that you periodically review your credit report for inaccuracies or omissions. This could be especially important if you’re considering making a major purchase, such as buying a home. Checking in advance on the accuracy of information in your credit file could speed the credit-granting process, clean credit is a must.

Because businesses use this information to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, and other purposes allowed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), it’s important that the information in your report is complete and accurate.

Whenever you apply for any type of credit or financing, a credit report is pulled from at least one of the three major credit bureaus. You want a clean credit report to be pulled. While there are hundreds of smaller credit bureaus around the country, virtually every credit bureau is affiliated with either Experian, Trans Union, or Equifax.

Getting Your Clean Credit Report

If you’ve been denied credit, insurance, or employment because of information supplied by a credit reporting agency, the FCRA says the company you applied to must give you the agency`s name, address, and telephone number. If you contact the agency for a copy of your report within 60 days of receiving a denial notice, the report is free. In addition, you’re entitled to one free copy of your report a year.

If you simply want a copy of your report, call each credit bureau listed since more than one agency may have a file on you, some with different information.

The three major national credit bureaus are:

Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241; (80….

Experian (formerly TRW), P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013; (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742).

Trans Union, P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022; (800….

Correcting Errors For Clean Credit.

To protect all your rights under the law and to keep your credit clean contact both the CRA and the information provider.

First to get clean credit reports, tell the credit reporting agency in writing what information you believe is inaccurate. Include copies (please keep your originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request deletion or correction. Always keep copies of your dispute letter.

They must reinvestigate the items in question, usually within 30 days, unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward all relevant data you provide about the dispute to the information provider. After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the CRA, it must investigate, review all relevant information provided by the CRA, and report the results to the CRA. If the information provider finds the disputed information to be inaccurate, it must notify all nationwide CRAs so they can correct this information in your file. Disputed information that cannot be verified must be deleted from your file, then you will recieve a clean credit report, with that item removed.

If your report contains erroneous information, the CRA must correct it(clean credit).

If an item is incomplete, the CRA must complete it. For example, if your file showed that you were late making payments ( 30 days or more), but failed to show that you were no longer delinquent, the CRA must show that you’re current.

If your file shows an account that belongs only to another person, the CRA must delete it.

When the reinvestigation is complete, they must give you the written results and a free copy of your clean credit report, if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or removed, they cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies its accuracy and completeness.

Also, if you request, they must send notices of clean credit report corrections to anyone who received your report in the past six months. Job applicants can have a corrected copy of their clean credit report sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years for employment purposes. If a reinvestigation does not resolve your dispute, ask the CRA to include your statement of the dispute in your file and in future reports.

Second, in addition to writing to the credit agency, tell the creditor or other information provider in writing that you dispute an item. Again, include copies (please not originals) of documents that support your position. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider then reports the item to any credit reporting angency, it must include a notice of your dispute. In addition, if you are correct that is, if the disputed information is not accurate the information provider may not use it again, thus you will have a clean credit report.

When negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage of time can assure its removal. Accurate negative information can generally stay on your report for 7 years.

Clean Credit: There are certain exceptions:

Bankruptcy information may be reported for 10 years.

Information about criminal convictions may be reported without any time limitation.

Credit information reported in response to an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limit.

Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer. Criminal convictions can be reported without any time limit.

Credit information reported because of an application for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limit.

Adding clean credit accounts to your file:

Your credit file may not reflect all your clean credit accounts. Although most national department stores and all-purpose bank credit card accounts will be included in your file, not all creditors supply information: Some travel, entertainment, gasoline card companies, local retailers, and credit unions are among those creditors that don’t report clean credit.

If you’ve been told you were denied clean credit because of an insufficient credit file or no credit file and you have accounts with creditors that don’t appear in your credit file, ask the CRA to add this information to future reports. This will help get you on the road to a clean credit report. Although they are not required to do so, many CRAs will add verifiable accounts for a fee. You should, however, understand that if these creditors do not report to the CRA on a regular basis, these added items will not be updated in your file.

Adrian R asked:


We have have a small automobile dealership and do our own financing. The problem with that is we sometimes finance to people we have no history with. We are looking for consumer credit report service. Something we can subscribe to without paying large fees. Does anyone have an idea?

bmd1208 asked:


I am looking for a reputable consumer credit counseling service in central FL. Any reccomendations?

If possible please tell me who to go to and who to stay away from. My brother in law want to consolodate his credit card debt.

Please advise.

WE asked:


This company is through Consumer Credit Counseling Service. After being unemployed for over 1 year, and used all my savings to pay my credit card bills I need the help of this type of service. I just got a job making 80% less than I was making before, and have less to pay the credit card companies. I called each credit card company, and very few will work with me. Has anyone had a positive experience with Money Management International? Thank you.

a4n2g0e asked:


It’s my first time to aquire about my credit report and I’m doing it online. I was asked which nationwide consumer credit reporting company I wanted to request my report from and I was wondering which I should choose. My options are Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. I could really use some input. Thanks!

JewelsinOH asked:


I want to go to college soon for a degree program. However, my credit card debt is getting the best of me, so I have been considering contacting a consumer credit counseling agency. Will student loan agencies (federal & private) not consider an application with credit counseling? How do I find out how this decision could affect my school?

mrsmoultrey asked:


Has anyone used a consumer credit consolidating company and has it worked? I am considering using one but I want to weigh my options. I have been unemployed for 9 mos and was considering chapter 7 possibly but then i considered this. What should i do?

Blk Angel asked:


Hello, I am in desperate need of some advice as my situation is just getting out of hand. I used to have a credit score of almost 800 about 2 years ago. Now I dont even bother to check my score anymore. I made the mistake of getting some rental properties with ARMS. As time passed, bad tenants, rising interest rates and a recent wedding have REALLY put me upside down. I have tried and tried everything. A couple of my properties have nearly been foreclosed on. I have tried those firms that dispute credit issues but thats not helping out. The thing is, my revolving debt is really not that bad, I only have two revolving accounts, but they are maxed out. I just need to catch up on them and also straighten out my mortgages. I have thought of consumer credit counselling and wanted to know its pros and cons, any advice would be grateful. Thanks!

LittleMomma asked:


Is there anyone out there who is currently working as a consumer credit counselor and can tell me average starting salaries? I am in Texas. If you happen to know the salary for this area, that would be even better.

boxbeatle asked:


We started a program with “Consumer Credit Counselors” This progarm has us pay the Consumer Credit Counselors, then they pay the credit cards every month. All they do is lower some of the interest rates. They don’t negotiate amount owed. The payments are too high for us, so we looked into other alternatives. We found one company that will do it differently for less. They have you pay into an escrow account, and they pay off each credit card individually. They say they negotiate lower balances and interest rates. The payment would be lower and the payoff time cut in half. Does anyone know of any reason we shouldn’t do this? Are there any other better ways? WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET CONSUMER DEBT RELIEF with no loans?

The Commissioner asked:


In 2005, it became the law in the United States that before a person could file for bankruptcy protection, they needed to complete consumer credit counseling.

I am very interested in reading a case study about how they (the consumer credit counseling industry) pulled this off. I have a cursory understanding of the issue - the arguments, the changes to non-profit status, etc… so I don’t want just some high level, overview. I am much more interested in the steps and arguments they used to accomplish this.