Five Easy Steps: A Free Guide To Fixing Your Own Credit and Getting It Right!

Step 1: Get Copies of Your Credit Reports

• Click here for a sample letter to the major credit bureaus to obtain consumer copies of your credit reports MS Word© Format or Adobe© PDF Format

• Cut, paste and customize this letter with your information and then send it out to all of the major credit reporting agencies. 

• Remember, the reports will cost you $3.00 each in the state of Minnesota (around $9.00 in most other states) unless you attach a copy of a credit denial letter you have received in the past 60 days which was based upon the information that that credit bureau provided.

• Save any and all of credit denial letters you receive, including the envelopes.

• Save clean, original copies of each of the credit reports you have receive after you send your requests out.

• Save a a good clean copy of what you send to the credit bureaus requesting the reports.

• Online Users Beware: You may be tempted to get your credit reports on-line either directly from the credit bureaus or through a "consolidated" credit reporting service.  We don't recommend online reports for several important reasons: 1) Online service has been "hit or miss" with some of the credit bureaus; 2) consolidated reports are harder to link directly back to the particular source of the incorrect information; 3) the print outs are often harder to read than original reports. 

• Our Advice: Take the time and send the manual letters.  They create a great paper trail.

Step 2: Examine All Credit Entries & Inquiries

• Once you get all four of your consumer credit reports back, sit down and thoroughly review every account and company name on your reports.

• Make sure that all of the information on the account, including late payment history, high credit, and monthly payments is accurate for every account.

• Make accurate notes of any errors because you will use this information to create a second letter to request that your report be corrected.

• Next, thoroughly examine and review every person and company listed who has obtained your credit report.

• If there are inquiries on your credit reports which you don't recognize, try to investigate them thoroughly and eliminate any possibility that the access of your credit report was permissible.

• Your current creditors, insurance underwriters, debt collectors who are collecting from you, and people who expect to loan you money have a right to access your credit report.

• Inquires made for promotional purposes are legal as well and are usually indicated with a special code such as "PRM" for promotional or other specific language on the credit report.

Step 3: Send A Correction Request Letter

• Click here for a sample letter to the major credit bureaus to request corrections to your credit reports in MS Word© Format or Adobe© PDF Format.

• Again, cut, paste and customize this letter with your information and then send it out to all of the affected credit reporting agencies that are showing the inaccurate information.

• You are not required to, but you may also choose to use the correction form provided by the credit bureau along with your new credit report.  Sometimes these form have too little space or not enough room to explain the problem you have.

• Save a a good clean copy of what you send to the credit bureaus requesting the corrections.

Step 4: Review Your Updated Credit Reports

• Within 30 days or so, after you have sent your Request Letter in Step 4, you can expect a copy of any updated credit report showing what corrections have been made, what has been deleted, and what remains unchanged.

• If you still dispute inaccurate information that is on your your credit reports, then it's time to go to Step 5.

Step 5: Contact Our Office If Errors Persist

• If you have followed all of these Steps in writing, and 1) your credit information is still inaccurate, or 2) the creditor refuses to correct it, or 3) someone has accessed your credit report illegally, please contact our office.

• We will consult with you for free and advise you of the best course of legal action to vindicate your rights.

• Your claims under the FCRA must be brought within two years or they will be forever barred by the applicable statute of limitations.  Consult a competent attorney immediately if you have inaccurate information on your credit report that the credit bureaus will not remove.