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Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA, consumers have the right to dispute any items on their Credit Report. But, not every consumer know how to dispute Credit Report. In fact, most people think it is too much trouble to dispute Credit Report even if they know roughly how to dispute Credit Report, how to write the Credit Report dispute letter or how to fill out the Credit Report dispute form. Below is a guide on how to dispute Credit Report.

How to dispute Credit Report 101

In order to dispute Credit Report items, you need to obtain your Credit Report and analyze it for items that you want to dispute. Among items people usually dispute are inaccurate items, incomplete items and obsolete items. If there is anything wrong with an item in the credit report, you have the right to dispute the entire item. For example, if you owe $500 but it says in your credit report that you owe $600, then you can dispute the entire account. That will temporarily improve your credit and Credit Score.

After you have established that your credit report is disputable, then you need to send the credit bureau a credit report dispute form. A copy of the credit report dispute form should be sent with a copy of your credit report. If you don't have the credit report dispute form or don't want to use one, you can just write a credit report dispute letter to the credit bureau disputing the particular items on your credit report.

When sending a credit report dispute letter or a credit report dispute form, you need to be very clear on what you are disputing. You need to include any account numbers in the credit report that contain the errors as well as the creditor's name and reasons why you are disputing the credit report item.

When to send a follow up credit report dispute form or credit report dispute letter

After mailing the first credit report dispute form or credit report dispute letter, you need to send a follow up letter if you have not heard back from the credit bureau within 6 weeks. It could be that the credit bureau lost your credit report dispute letter or form the first time. If not, they may still be investigating your dispute. Most credit bureaus will notify you of the results of the credit report dispute investigation and send you an updated copy of your credit report amended.

Remember to keep all the correspondence with the credit bureaus on file. Make copies of everything.

Online Credit Report dispute has only recently been introduced. In the past, you can only dispute your Credit Report by writing a dispute letter to a credit bureau. Nowadays, it is easy to dispute Credit Report online. There are free online dispute forms for Credit Report. Equifax online dispute, Experian Credit Report dispute online, and Trans Union annual Credit Report dispute online are now more user friendly than ever.

How to Dispute Credit Report online?

If you sign up online to any of the credit bureau's website, look for the Credit Manager section. The Credit Manager allows you to dispute items on your Credit Report online. To file a dispute, select the item on your Credit Report that you want to dispute and click 'dispute this item' button. To explain the reason of your dispute, you can either select the answers listed on the menu or provide a new written explanation. Examples of reasons why you may want to dispute Credit Report online are:

• I never made any late payments
• The item on my credit report belongs to my ex spouse
• The item on my credit report was unauthorized

What happens when I dispute credit report online?

When you dispute credit report online, your dispute is forwarded to the creditor. This may help your credit situation temporary. Your Credit Score will not plunge further.

Advantages and disadvantages of disputing credit report online

While it is convenient to dispute credit report online, one disadvantage of online credit report dispute is that you cannot provide any supporting evidence of your dispute. Therefore, convincing the creditor or credit bureaus to delete the item on your credit report which you have disputed may be more challenging. Pay close attention to the delinquent or derogatory part of your credit report.