Credit Dispute Letters Bad Credit Repair

An overview and sample of how to draft a letter to dispute credit card charges.

No matter if you agree with the concept or not, the fact is that if an item appears on your credit or charge card statement, the merchant and credit card company view the items on that bill as “their money” from the moment it’s billed. They have the motivation to react defensively to any attempts to get that money back from them, unless there is a solid logical reason to do so. Further, because of the world we live in today, most merchant and credit companies face a daily assault from scammers and tricksters making them even more defensive and experienced than you. That solid logical reason they need to remove a charge may be your only chance at success in getting disputed charges removed.

Step 1: Organize all your data. Make three copies of the credit card statement that has the disputed item(s) listed. One copy will be sent to the credit card company (never send the original), and the other two are for your disputes file and for corresponding with the merchant during the follow-up phase. Do the same with any documentation that applies to the item in question, like sales receipts, returned items receipts, proof of identity not that of billed, copy of identity fraud alert if it applies, etc.

Step 2: Organize your dispute argument. In an orderly and logical manner, outline why you feel the charge is in error. For example, the item was never ordered or received, the billing information is from another individual not you, the item was returned for legitimate credit or charge back not reflected, etc. Be clear and be sure your argument is legit. Your chances are increased the more accurate and concise you are, and you risk legal troubles if you are fraudulent in your claim of dispute. Many legitimate merchants and charge companies share valuable information about what is a legitimate dispute in their terms and conditions pages, so be sure to check these out as well.

Step 3: Identify exactly as possible (through a phone call if needed) who exactly will be your target of this letter. This may give some insight to influence or leverage in your favor, and insight how to tone or craft your argument or dispute. For instance, is the person or department receiving dozens of these mailings per day, or is this a merchant charge account where the proprietor or credit manger can handle each letter individually as a matter of good business practice.

Step 4: Using the data in Step 2 and Step 3 above as a guide, create a rough draft of your initial dispute letter. Spell checking and grammar are second considerations here, since they will be handled in the final draft.

Step 5: After taking a break from the process for a day or night or two, look at all three above in sequence and think about how you could improve your strategy, argument points, or final draft argument tone and style. Remember, this is an initial contact that does not call for quoting the laws, name calling, personal attacks or threats of action, or anything of the sort. Cool headed, correctly crafted and displayed logic should lead the recipient to no other decision than to agree with your argument. If you’re not there yet, you need to go back to Step 1 to start over till you get it right. This is your best chance for success, if not your only chance.

Step 6: Using the final draft from Step 5 and the copies from Step 2, package your letter and supporting documents together, and send them to the appropriate address, with some form of tracking like certified return receipt. It’s always a good idea to match this step to the level of the charge amount and your target as well. Remember, you are negotiating and presenting at this stage, not picking a fight or a legal battle. There may or may not be a need for legal stuff later. For now you are documenting and tracking each step and little more, but certainly not less.

Give it a shot. If your reasons are legit, the item(s) may be adjusted. But don’t try to refuse to pay the rest of your bill until resolved. You may even find yourself in a situation where a reversal is not possible, or that you may have to pay and recover later to preserve your account standing. And, the above steps may not work. Now you can think about your possible legal standing and remedies. So thats how you fix your credit with a credit dispute letter.

A sample dispute letter is your method of challenging the accuracy or validity of a bad credit mark on your report. In your letter you need to include the reason for your dispute and the mark that you are disputing.

Common reasons for a dispute are; account is not mine, account paid in full, item is out of date and more. When the credit bureaus receive your dispute and deem it valid they will investigate the dispute.

During this investigation the collection agency or lender is contacted and the account is verified and the dates and amounts. If the account can not be verified then it will be removed from your credit report.

Typically investigations will result in the removal of a bad credit item. This happens because many businesses are just unwilling to spend the resources to verify disputed accounts.

Allegedly bureaus do not check public records during investigations. This means that negative marks that are recorded in public records are often removed.

Another option is to hire a service to perform your disputes for you. This can help tremendously especially if you are disputing multiple items.

Frequently sample dispute letter will result in the credit bureaus requesting more information from you. In addition you must dispute a bad credit item with each credit bureau separately.

Thus organizing all your disputes with each credit bureau can be a task itself. Many services can use advanced dispute techniques in case a bad credit item is verified. The techniques include; escalated dispute information requests, debt validation, and creditor direct intervention.

Many services will employ attorneys this will enable you to go to court if it is necessary. In addition you may be a victim of illegal debt collection practices and may be able to file a lawsuit against a collection agency.

Credit repair is your responsibility. Unfortunately it is very common for inaccurate information to be reported on your credit report. It is estimated that 1 in every 4 Americans have inaccurate items on their report.

In sum if you have unverifiable or inaccurate information on your credit report you should use a dispute letter to challenge it. You can remove bad credit without waiting 7 years. This is a sample letter to dispute credit card charges.

A credit repair letter is also referred to as a dispute letter. This is a how you remove a negative mark on your credit report with the credit bureaus.

By sending this letter you are telling the credit bureau that the listing is incorrect and should be removed. Upon receipt of this letter the bureaus will conduct an investigation into the listing. Be aware that a separate letter must be sent to each credit bureau.

In your letter you must include the disputed item, the reason for the dispute, your name and address. Common reasons for a dispute are; account is paid in full, not your account, information wrong, item out of date and more.

Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act to help protect you from the credit bureaus. This law forces the bureaus to investigate a dispute and remove any inaccurate or unverifiable listing from your credit report. Consumers had no method of removing a negative item from their credit before this law.

The brick wall that many people face is to get the credit bureau to deem your letter a “valid” dispute. This is because it will only cost the bureaus potential profits to conduct investigations.

Thus the credit bureaus will avoid conducting an investigation and do this through stall tactics. These stall tactics are in place to frustrate you and force you into giving up on the dispute process. It is common for bureaus to respond to a dispute letter with another letter that requests more information about the listing.

Also you should know that under no circumstances should you ever submit a 100 word statement on your credit report. This is a place where you can provide a brief statement next to a negative mark so thats why a credit dispute letter makes sense.

In the past this space was where you could provide the details and reason for what happened. However today if you submit this statement you are only acknowledging your guilt to the credit bureaus.

If you do this it will be next to impossible to ever remove this mark from your credit report. The credit bureaus will deem any future dispute letter challenging that mark as frivolous.

With patience and some organization you can have negative items removed from your credit report. However it is in your interest to consider a credit repair service if you have multiple negative marks on your reports.

Need a credit repair letter? Is lousy credit preventing you from getting that house, car or other things you always dreamed about? Have you spent sleepless night’s wishing you could repair your damaged credit without it taking years or even decades?

Poor credit translates into high interest rates on credit cards, vehicles and other major purchases. Such high interest rates inevitably devastate your financial well being forcing you into financial ruin. Don’t let an unhealthy credit score continue to ruin you life, a healthy credit score can be your key to financial freedom.

You can say good-bye to Foreclosures, Bankruptcies, late payments and other derogatory items that are lowering your credit score. All you have to do is formulate the right letter! A unique letter that works!

Following are some tricks and things to keep in mind when doing so, over the years I have used them to formulate many successful letters that have removed all items mentioned above.

* Credit bureaus are bound by the FTC to validate a debt within a 30-day time frame and if they can’t, it has to be removed.

* Credit bureaus are afraid to be sued and would rather remove a debt than be dragged into small claims court.

* Credit bureaus are bound by the FCRA.

* Credit bureaus receive thousands if not millions of dispute letters each day.

* Ask the credit bureaus to validate the debt to it’s entirety.

* Be specific in what you want the credit bureaus to do with the debt if they can’t validate it, such as: Remove or Update The Info

* Be original in your letter and what ever you do don’t use a form letter off the Internet.

* Let them know that you are prepared to take legal action under if they don’t correct the info.

* Address each letter individually to each credit bureau.

* Send the letters certified mail, return receipt requested.

* Include a color copy of both your social security card and drivers license

OK so with these tips in mind an effective dispute letter might look something like this:

Date

To: Bureau Name and address

Re: Update or Delete Info

Date of Birth:

From:

Your Name

Your Address

Attention: Consumer Fraud Department, “Thank You for your Prompt Actions”

Reference #

Date Report was issued: From bureau

As indicated above my information may have changed in your files since my last confirmation dispute, please apply all changes to the information above.

I am disputing several items on my credit report due to fraudulent activity. Some items on my disputes still reflect on my credit file and I ask that you investigate each account to its full entirety. I am listing the accounts I wish to dispute below.

NAME OF CREDITOR/COURT ACCT # OR DOCKET # Opened date:

“This account does not belong to Me, Possible Fraudulent account using my name & SSN to establish credit” DELETE this from my credit file per Section 4752 & Stated by Section 1785.11 & S-623 (a) Paragraph (4) California New Legislation signed by governor on 2/24/2006, Chapter 10 A.B. 424. Inaccurate I am a JR.

DISCLAIMER

The following inquiries listed below I’ve never applied for either in Writing, Verbal or Initialed. Please delete from my credit file immediately!

LIST ALL INQUIRIES THAT ADVERSELY EFFECT YOUR FICO

DISCLAIMER

The following names listed below I’ve never used to obtain credit and was placed incorrectly on my credit file. Please delete from my credit file immediately!

LIST ALL NAMES NOT BELONGING TO YOU

Please note that I am aware of such information which reflects on my credit file may vary different, however are similar. I will pursue legal action if my request has not been fulfilled in the manner in which it has been requested. I have fully investigated my rights in this matter. Under the doctrine of estoppels by silence, Engelhard vs. Graven (Mo) 281 SW 715, 719, I may presume that no proof of the alleged debt, nor therefore any such debt, in fact exists.

I appreciate your professional cooperation in advance; I am looking forward to a prompt response from your fraud department.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Cc: Experian, Equifax, Trans Union, F.T.C.

(The above letter is an actual letter I use all the time to get negative items removed and is one of the most successful.)

OK so now that you formulated a well written and thought out letter you can proceed to send the letter. You will receive an answer back within 30-45 days. Remember that when you launch a credit scrubbing campaign on your own to keep in mind that it can be a long and tedious process.

You will have to keep track of all letters and respond back to each you receive from the bureaus in order to be successful. If you are not in it for the long haul and not ready to see it through to the end you might want to reconsider doing it yourself. Even though the above letter is successful, you will have to formulate one particular to your individual case, make sure and be original to every response you receive from the bureaus also. Good Luck! with your credit dispute letter!