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Results of Your Dispute
Once the matter has been resolved, the credit bureau is required to provide you with the written results of the investigation and a free copy of your updated credit report. It must also send you the name, address, and phone number of the party that provided the incorrect information.
You can also request to have a corrected report sent to anyone who has received a copy of your report in the past six months, e.g., a mortgage company, auto loan company, etc., and you can have a copy sent to anyone who received a copy for employment-related reasons for the past two years.
Sometimes the error on your credit report is not negative. Travel, entertainment, gas, or store credit cards may not be reported. If you are denied credit because you do not have enough of a credit card his- tory, it is important to ask that all the credit accounts you have now or have had in the past are reported on your credit report. What’s not there can sometimes be as detrimental as what is there. Credit bureaus are not required to add these accounts so you may be charged a fee to have them added. If these accounts do not report to the credit bureau on a regular basis, these accounts will not be updated in the future by the credit bureau.
You should also know that even if the credit bureau determines that your report is not incorrect, you can ask to have a statement included in your file so that when you apply for credit in the future, potential lenders can at least see that you feel the information is not accurate. This statement must be 100 words or less. You can also use this state- ment to explain why you may have made a late payment if there is a good reason, e.g., divorce, illness, or a death in the family.
It is a good idea to check on your credit report annually to make sure new inaccuracies haven’t occurred. Contrary to what many people believe, checking your own credit report does not count as a credit inquiry and doesn’t hurt your credit score.