How to Handle an Unknown Charge-Off on Your Equifax Credit Report

It is not uncommon to find an unknown collection account on your Equifax report. It is actually estimated that more than 20 million reports have an error serious enough to affect the outcome of a loan they are interested in receiving from a creditor. These errors are due to the massive amounts of data that are inputted and removed by the bureaus.

Their main focus is selling your file to lenders, while the task of making sure the file is accurate lays in your hands. The first step to having inaccurate accounts removed is to "dispute" the entry with the bureau reporting the negative. You can do this by mail in a simple but straightforward letter saying the account is "not mine".

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You want to instruct them to investigate the account with the creditor. This MUST be your first step...most people get this wrong by contacting the creditor first! Keep in mind that this type of letter to the bureau is your right according to the fair credit laws. You should hear back from them no later than 30 days from the day your letter arrives at their office. Equifax will let you know the outcome of their investigation in writing.

If they claim that the outcome of their investigation proves the account is accurate, that's the point you want to contact the creditor asking them for their "method of verification". They are to provide you with the details of how they gave verification to the bureaus that the information was accurate.

How to Handle an Unknown Charge-Off on Your Equifax Credit Report

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Remove Bad Credit History - How to Clean Up Your Credit Report and Raise Your FICO Score

Having and maintaining excellent credit in todays economic crisis is important. With negative information on your credit profile pulling your FICO scores down you will find it hard to secure financing, get low interest rate and even buy certain forms of insurance. The god news and little known secret is that removing bad credit history from your credit report is not that hard, you just need the right plan.

The first thing you have to do is get a copy of a tri-merge report that shows what the three major bureaus are reporting about you. Those three companies are Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. You can buy a tri-merge report online very easily.

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Next look your report over for errors and negative accounts that will pull your FICO scores down fast. These include late payments, collection or judgments and charged off accounts. These are the three most common causes of bad credit and low scores.

Once you identify these problems you need to start the process of disputing those accounts. You can do this online at the bureaus websites or by sending a dispute letter in the mail. The letter is the recommended way because it leaves a paper trial.

When they receive your letters the bureaus will ask the issuing lender to prove the negative information true. If they fail to do so within 30 days then the item will be removed from your report. Make sure you do it slowly one or two accounts at a time or the reporting agencies will get wise to your plans and put you on a frivolous dispute list and ignore your requests.

Remove Bad Credit History - How to Clean Up Your Credit Report and Raise Your FICO Score

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How an Equifax/FCRA Credit Report Can Help Your Financial Future

If you were recently engaged in the process of getting a loan or a mortgage, you must have heard about terms like Equifax.com/FCRA, credit worthiness etc. If you are not already aware of what these terms mean, this article will be helpful for you to understand them in better detail.

FCRA is a federal law that is an abbreviation for Fair Credit Reporting Act. It was established by the federal government to collect financial information about the public in the form of a credit score. These credit ratings are awarded on a scale that runs from 280 to 850, with 280 being the worst possible rating.

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What do these credit scores mean?

The purpose of these credit scores is to establish your credit worthiness and financial risk to lenders, insurers and even employers. In today's economy, people have a diverse history when it comes to their credit worthiness. Some would have faced tough times and would have filed for bankruptcy while some would have been late on a few payments. There would have also been a lot of people who might have worked really hard to stay ahead of their bills.

When various people like this approach the bank for a loan, the bank will decide whether to give out a loan or not based on the credit worthiness of the person. It is just not approval or denial of a bank loan that is decided by one's credit worthiness.

In some cases, a bank might approve a loan but at a high interest rate for a person with lower credit worthiness than a person with good credit ratings.

You might wonder about how the banks decide on terms such as approval, denial or interest rates. This is where the Equifax.com/FCRA credit report will come into play. Equifax is an institution that will generate a report that will give you your credit score. As said earlier, it will range somewhere in between 280 to 850. The average across the United States is somewhere around the 700 level.

How you can go about getting an Equifax.com/FCRA credit report?

This is a fairly simple process and you can get your credit ratings by simply applying online. All you will need is your own identity information such as name and address. Once you fill out the information, Equifax will be able to calculate your credit ratings.

If your credit ratings are good, you can furnish this document at a bank to get the best possible terms on a loan that you might be trying to get. If your credit score is bad, you can try to fix the issues that might be causing you to have a low credit score.

In some cases, you will also be able to see that there will be some information on your credit report that you are not familiar with at all. If you have ever been victimized by identity theft, there is a good chance that you will see it on your Equifax.com/FCRA credit report in the form of fraudulent transactions or unfamiliar loans. You can then use the report to dispute the charges to get your credit score recalculated. It is advised that every American gets their credit score checked at least once a year to keep abreast of their financial standing.

How an Equifax/FCRA Credit Report Can Help Your Financial Future

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