You know that your credit report contains your personal profile related to financial transactions, and on the bases of which your new credit is to be settled. If you see the negative information being added to your credit report, it is no doubt a matter of concern for you. You must know what you are supposed to do in that context.
Law has given you every right to get your statement amended and true facts being incorporated in the credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the person concerned can get his statement recorded in the credit report if it is found to be erroneous. The credit reporting agency will amend the report on the bases of your information, if proved correct. The credit report has been given much importance in the market since it reflects your personal profile as well as other necessary transactions. The credit report is held to be responsible for so many cases, even sometimes loosing your jobs. Therefore, this report has to be free from all errors. Even minor mistakes can invite serious consequences. The primary purpose of amending such a report is damage control which is very important for getting fresh loans or maintaining the credit you are known for. This damage control helps the prospective lender decide positively on your credit application despite your poor credit rating as published in the report.
You must not forget to note that at present most of the money lenders decide on the bases of credit scores made available on the credit report. They do not read the total report and the amendments made therein. Therefore, once it has been published with low credit scores, people immediately grab the score without looking into other areas of merits. That is why the effectiveness of a consumer statement is not full-fledged. It is the opinion of some credit experts that any addition or alteration of the credit report on the bases of a consumer statement will actually lower your credit score down. They suggest that the consumer statement should be considered at the end when no other options remain available. If your statement is added, it will remain on your credit report for two or three years and then be deleted by the credit bureau.
How to amend your credit report is the matter of a letter. You can request the credit report agency under section 611(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Here, you can start your letter with the request of getting your consumer statement included in the forthcoming credit report. Here are two letters given for your kind perusal:
Letter No. 1.
Under section 611(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, I am requesting the following consumer statement be inserted in my credit report exactly as I have written it.
“I dispute the fairness of the late payments being reported on the [name of creditor] account. These late payments are the fault of [name of creditor] that habitually mails my monthly statement to me after the date payment is due, if it bothers to mail me a statement at all. Because I do not receive my billing statement in time and sometimes not at all, I have had no choice but to make payment after the due date. For this reason, there are numerous late pays associated with this account that are no fault of mine.”
Please send me an updated copy of my credit report once the above statement has been added to my credit file. Thank you very much.
Letter No. 2.
Under section 611(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, I am requesting the following consumer statement be inserted in my credit report exactly as I have written it:
“On [date] I was laid off from work while employed at [name of employer] due to [reason why laid off, e.g., company downsizing, etc.]. As a result, I fell behind paying my debts. I found employment on [date found employment] and began catching up paying my delinquent debts. My overall credit report shows an excellent payment history. If it weren’t for losing my job, I would still have a good credit rating. I believe the late payments associated with the [name of creditor] account are not a true reflection of my creditworthiness.”
Please send me an updated copy of my credit report once the above statement has been added to my credit file. Thank you very much.