Considering Disputing Your Credit Online? You May Want to Reconsider

You work hard to maintain a good credit score. You pay your bills on time, you keep your credit utilization low, and you do not spend outside your means. You check your credit score periodically for mistakes. Then one day, you find one. This is a problem, but you can fix it. However, you should not dispute your credit online.

Now, this does not make sense. It is much easier to do things online and credit bureaus offer an online service. What is the problem with using it? Here are three reasons why.

• By filing a dispute online, you do not have anything in writing to prove that you filed a dispute. If you dispute your credit online, the credit bureaus will not provide you with substantial paperwork afterwards. You should keep records of your finances in case something happens and you have to defend yourself. You cannot defend yourself without any evidence, which means, in this case, paperwork.
• By filing a dispute online, you allow the credit bureaus to expedite the process. They designed their online system to make problems go away. They will not perform a full investigation on why the mistake was on your report.
• By filing a dispute online, the credit bureaus are not required to send any paperwork to anyone. They do not have to send paperwork to the creditor who caused the mistake or you. That means you do not have the right to request a method of verification and they do not have to send you any results

In other words, if you file a dispute, the credit bureaus will just take the mistake off of your credit report to make you happy. However, the mistake can reappear later on because the creditor who reported the mistake has no idea there was a dispute.

So, how do you go about disputing a mistake on your credit report if you should not do it online? You have to do it in writing. This will take longer and it may be a little more inconvenient. However, if forces credit bureaus to take steps to fix your credit report permanently.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at the Credit Care Company.

Photo Credit: Cafe Credit via Flickr, under the Creative Commons License