Finding Reparable Information

• The first part of the credit-repair methodology is finding removable negative information on your credit reports. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, an FCRA amendment, makes this easy by giving you free access to your reports once per year through AnnualCreditReport.com. Get a copy of all three reports, sift through them carefully, and note every entry with a mistake. You may not dispute accurate data, but you can challenge small errors such as misspelled company names, wrong dates, and numbers that are slightly off. Focus on errors in entries that are hurting your credit score, including delinquent or written-off accounts.
  
  

Disputing Mistakes

• The dispute process puts the onus to verify or remove whatever data you challenge onto the credit bureaus. The FCRA imposes a 30-day limit for Experian, Equifax and TransUnion to complete their investigations once you submit disputes, and sometimes erase data without trying to verify it first, according to the Divorcenet website. Strengthen your position by writing detailed letters to the three bureaus and attaching evidence, such as check or statement copies, whenever possible. The Federal Trade Commission advises always using certified mail for disputes.
  
  

Assessing Results

• You learn the results of your disputes shortly after the 30-day investigation period ends. The bureaus must inform you if they were able to validate certain items and tell you about any changes they made to your credit reports, and they automatically send you new report copies to confirm the updates, the FTC notes. Your repair efforts are successful if some or all of the negative information has been purged from your bureau files.
  
  

Time Frame

• The FCRA does not limit you to a certain number of disputes within a specific time frame. You can keep checking your credit reports and challenging inaccuracies as often as you wish. Many consumers order a different report through AnnualCreditReport.com every four months to continuously monitor their records for disputable errors or signs of fraud, according to the California Office of Privacy Protection.