Some, perhaps even much of your low credit score could be the result of errors in your credit report. Statistics show that 79% of all credit reports contain errors, that is over 150,000,000 of the 200,000,000 credit reports. Twenty-five percent (25%) of credit reports studied had errors bad enough to cause denial of credit!

Federal law gives you the right to contact credit bureaus directly and dispute items on your credit reports. You can dispute any and all items that you feel classify as inaccurate, untimely, misleading or unverifiable. If the bureaus cannot verify that the information on their reports is correct, then those items must be deleted.

There is no charge for you to request an investigation. If the credit bureau does not respond within 30 days of your notification of a disputed item, that item must be removed from your credit report.

Keep in mind, only incorrect or unverifiable information can be deleted from your credit report. Accurate negative information remains a part of your record for the time set by the credit industry, at least 7 years from the time it is reported, 10 years for bankruptcy.

Credit troubles usually result from many factors. Making your payments late is one factor; having significant debt is another. Lenders may be reluctant to extend credit to persons who pay their bills late or have significant debt, even though they may have made all their payments.

Learn the dos and do nots of credit consumerism, but know and use your rights as a consumer!