Experts agree, the most effective way to fix your credit is through written correspondence. Sure, you can submit credit bureau disputes online and you can talk to creditors on the phone, but by putting everything in writing you will have a paper trail as proof of everything that gets said.

As you get started gathering information about fixing your creditscore, you will find out that there are a variety of kinds of credit repair letters you may need to use. Unfortunately, there is no ideal letter that will work for for everyone. You will need to find the right letter for the task at hand.

Credit Repair Letters

Listed below are a few types of letters you may come across as you attempt to fix your credit score. This list does not include every type of credit repair letter, but it does give you an idea of the variety of letters you may need to create.

Credit Bureau Dispute Letter

The credit bureau dispute is the letter that most people probably think of when they think of credit repair letters. The credit bureau dispute is your message to a credit bureau telling them that you would like them to confirm the accuracy of a listing in your credit reports. You are basically telling the credit bureau that they need to prove that an item is accurately listed on your credit report. If they cannot do so, then the account must be updated or deleted.

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and subsequent case law , you have the right to dispute
items that are inaccurate or, in your opinion, give others an unfair impression of your creditworthiness. You should not dispute listings that are 100 percent accurate and verifiable.

Goodwill Letter

Not all negative items can be disputed with the credit bureaus. In addition, just because you dispute an inaccurate item doesn't mean it will be deleted. Sometimes you will have to go past the credit bureaus and your creditors.

The goodwill letter is the least confrontational of these credit repair letters to creditors. In it, you are asking nicely for the creditor to stop reporting the negative item. To help your case, you can bring up your current good standing with the creditor or ask for sympathy because of the effect the listing has on your credit rating in your request for the deletion.

Debt Validation Letter

If a credit bureau dispute is ineffective and the creditor isn't swayed by your attempt to play nice, it's time to play hardball.

By enforcing your rights under a number of consumer protection statutes like the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you can make creditors and collections agencies have to jump through specific hoops to prove that a debt is owed. As is the case with the credit bureaus, if they are unable or unwilling to do so, the negative items must be deleted from your credit reports.

Getting Assistance with Credit Repair

After researching credit repair, or even after getting started cleaning their own credit reports, many people realize how difficult credit repair can be. Fortunately, there are many reputable credit repair companies out there who have the knowledge and the experience to help make the process easier.