So you’ve obtained your free credit report that is allowed to you once per year via www.annualcreditreport.com 
and discovered that there are serious errors on your credit report. You have scoured the Internet in search for help from companies and law firms who charge a hefty fee to correct your credit. A fee such as $99.00 to start a service on top of $99.00 per month until your credit is corrected (which could take upwards of one year!)
So What Do You Do Now?
Load up your printer ink and buy a stack of stamps, because it does take some effort and focus to repair your own credit, but it’s completely possible, and it’s absolutely worth it! Plus it will save you about a $1,000 over that year with whoever you were going to pay to correct your credit.
First thing you need to do with those credit reports you just obtained from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion is to make a list from each report of any negative accounts. Write the creditor name, account number, and the type of negative account it is – anywhere from a 30-day late on up to bankruptcy, charge off, lien, judgment etc. You are going to use this list for comparison as you continue through the dispute process.
Second, you will want to subscribe to a credit monitoring website such as: www.truecredit.com, where you can have access to new and updated credit reports every 30 days.
Third, you will need to generate a dispute letter, the verbiage of the letter does not matter, you simply need to write in plain English that you are disputing the particular accounts you are including in the letter. It is not necessary to provide any explanation of these accounts. It is actually best if you offer very little information. Include the name of the creditor and the account number as it appears in the credit report.
Fourth, sign and mail the letters to the credit bureaus:
Credit Bureau Addresses:
TransUnion
2 Baldwin Place
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022
Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Fifth, the credit bureaus should respond to your dispute requests within about 45 days. Based on their responses you will know what items have been deleted or updated. Every 30 days access you new credit reports from your credit monitoring website and make side-by-side notes of which accounts have been deleted and which ones still remain using the list you created with your original negative creditors from your first credit pull.
Sixth, generate new dispute letters that dispute the negative items that have not yet been deleted from your credit reports. Repeat the previous six steps until your credit is corrected to your satisfaction.
Count on it taking between 6 months to a year to clean up the negative information on your reports. Correcting your credit, weather you pay someone to do it or if you do it yourself takes time and mostly persistence. In the end, it will save you a lot of money that could be put toward paying off debt, and it will give you great satisfaction of having taken advantage of your consumer rights to improve your financial and credit standings.
The following is a template that may be used in creating your dispute letters:
Current Date
Your Name
Your Address
Re: Disputing Inaccuracies on My Credit Report
Experian
P.O. Box 9701
Allen, TX 75013-9701
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing for two (2) reasons:
1. To dispute certain information in my credit file; and
2. To have you investigate and remove inaccurate information from my credit report and prevent its re-insertion. The items I dispute are identified by creditor name and account number as they were displayed on my credit report.
GMAC MTG 743930****
HEALTHCARE FUNDING 12000121****
MEDICAL DATA SYSTEMS 62410****
These items are inaccurate. I am requesting that these items be deleted to correct my information.
Please investigate this matter and demonstrate to me that my consumer rights are not being violated. Delete these disputed items within the time frame required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and inform me in writing of the outcome.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
I am also including copies of my driver’s license, Social Security card and a utility bill that has my name and current address on it. All in an effort to prove that I am who I say I am, and to discourage you from participating in any “stall tactics.”
Sincerely,
Your Name
