Cleaning Up Your Equifax Credit Bureau Report
Step 1 - Get a copy of your Equifax Credit Report and look for errors, inaccurate items, undesirabable information and/or information that is misleading. Damaging credit items include: charge offs, judgments, bankruptcy, included in bankruptcy, foreclosure, repossessions, wage garnishment, 30, 60, 90, or 120 day late payments, collections, paid collections, settled accounts, public record, or any other information that indicates a late or delinquent payment.
Step 2 - Draft an Equifax dispute letter - you can draft your own or use our template as a sample.
Step 3 - Wait for the Results - Credit bureaus usually respond within 30-45 days.
Here is a copy of an Successful dispute with Equifax |
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Tips for Disputing Your Equifax Credit Report
- Always file a credit dispute via mail - using the mail creates a "paper trail" that you can use in the event Equifax ignores your request. It also places Equifax on notice and gives them less opportunity to ignore your request to remove negative credit. (an online dispute could potentially get lost in "cyberspace" giving you no record of the challenge).
- Limit the number of disputed items to 4 in each dispute letter - Many people practicing unethical credit repair file disputes listing ALL the negative items that appear on their Equifax credit reports. Credit bureaus are rumored to flag such disputes as FRIVOLOUS or somebody who is undertaking an unethical credit dispute operation.
- Write a Coherent Dispute Letter - at a minimum your dispute letter to Equifax should include the disputed items, e.g. "Capital One Charge Off," and the reason behind your dispute, e.g. "This is not my account," or "The information is out of date..."
The Next Step After Your Equifax Dispute
If you win your dispute with Equifax then you can continue mailing dispute letters until all the questionable information is deleted from your credit report. A successful dispute usually results with the credit bureau removing the disputed information entirely from your credit report. On occasion the credit bureau will UPDATE an item or provide NEW INFORMATION. New Information can be good or bad depending upon the information. For example, a good result would be a deleted a late payment on a credit card account that remains on your credit file.
If you lose your Equifax dispute then Equifax will keep the item on your credit - or update it with new information. For instance Equifax may update a collection account with the most recent balance owed.
In this happens, you still have some options however. You could try negotiating directly with the creditor. If you still owe them money, you could negotiate payment in return for a full DELETION. **REMEMBER - credit reporting from a creditor is completely voluntary. The seven year limit is a law imposed on the credit bureaus only - not on creditors. Thus, a creditor can voluntarily delete information from your credit report ANYTIME.
Hiring an Attorney to Dispute an Equifax Item
A qualified credit correction attorney can execute more advance dispute strategies if you lose your original dispute. These include Debt Validation, escalated dispute/information requests, and/or creditor direct interventions.
These methods are somewhat complicated and are best if executed by a professional. For best results, we recommend The Lexington Law Firm.
Below is one example of a successful Debt Validation by a Lexington Law Attorney. It resulted in a voluntary DELETION by a collection agency.
Voluntary Collection Agency Deletion |
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Lexington Law has experience deleting many types of negative credit items including: bankruptcy, included in bankruptcy, charge offs, collections, judgments, public record, settled accounts, collections, paid collections, credit inquiries, repossession, garnishment, foreclosure, late payments, liens, and other undesirable items.
A Lexington Law Client Talks About His Success
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