A credit report is a great tool to monitor credit and figure out where an interest rate should be. Sometimes, a credit report can have debt listed that is inaccurate, which obviously will hinder a person’s credit. There are steps that can be taken to dispute debt on a credit report which will prevent errors from hurting a person’s credit status.
1. Disputing debt on a credit report can be done online with the credit reporting agency. Experian is a credit reporting agency that makes disputing debt seem very easy, according to this site. Usually, a company will have a step by step process online to dispute debt, and although the results are not immediate, the process is set in motion to clear up the credit report. Oftentimes, a credit reporting agency will contact the company in question and handle that for their customers due to the fact that they want their information as accurate as possible. Disputing debt on a credit report is done the fastest and most efficient through the reporting agency online.
2. A person that is disputing debt on a credit report needs to also dispute their claim with the company accusing them of not paying their debt. Sending a letter and any corresponding receipts to the company and their accompanying collection agency will at least inform them that there is a dispute in progress. Through that channel of dispute, it may be that there is an error found and the issue is resolved. However, in most cases, the claim will need to be examined at full scope. Keeping all receipts from any dealings with creditors and lenders is pertinent in case of a dispute issue that may arise on the credit report.
3. The last action would be disputing the debt in court. Most likely, the person with the debt would need to hire an attorney and have as many receipts as possible to prove that the debt in invalid. Disputing the debt in court should be a last motive, but probably wouldn’t be necessary if all the necessary proof was given to the credit reporting agency in the first place.
Having a negative mark on one’s record for something that they did not do can be frustrating, and then having to take the time to have that blemish removed can add to the frustration. However, companies are run by humans and when humans run things, mistakes are made and disputing the mistake of debt on a credit report is the only method to clear that debt.