What’s the best method to efficiently and accurately repair your credit? It’s simple – get organized.
- Keep correspondences between each bureau in a separate folder. File copies of letters you’ve sent along with your certified return receipt from the Post Office. Whenever you receive responses, place them in the appropriate folder.
- Keep track of your efforts with a dispute tracking form like this:
- Record the time and money spent on your efforts to clean up your report.
- Record the date and amount of time taken off from work to do credit repair related issues.
- Write down names, dates and phone calls made to and from the credit bureaus.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that if you dispute the accuracy of any item or data in your credit reports, the credit bureau shall conduct a reasonable investigation within 30 days to determine if the challenge is correct. After the 30 days have expired, if the credit bureau has not verified or completed the investigation, the disputed item must be deleted.
The most important reason to follow the steps above is to prepare for a potential lawsuit against the credit bureau for failing to investigate your disputed items. Plenty of documentation will be needed in order to have sufficient evidence to win.