The key to repairing your bad credit is the Credit Dispute Letter. You’ve put so much effort (probably a lot of cash too) into eliminating old debts and creating good credit but if you want to rewrite history, credit-wise, you’ve got to convince the credit bureaus to take the eraser to your past. Getting the letter just right requires a lot more than perfect prose. As is so often true with life, success can come from what you don’t say, what you do, how you say it and never forget… timing.

When composing a Credit Dispute Letter remember the old adage: Less it more. Your letter isn’t meant to convince anyone but to point out errors. You are not saying “why” a debt is not listed accurately on your report, but rather “what” is not listed accurately. Start with a simple statement that will explain what you want the the credit bureau to do: On reviewing my credit report, I haved found these discrepancies. Please delete them from my credit report within 30 days as required by law and send me a report of the corrections” - that pretty much sums up everything, doesn’t it. The fact is you don’t need to beg them to remove old credit items, it is there legal responsibility to research anything you say is incorrect and IF they can’t prove it true they must delete it.

Now list virtually everything that could hurt your credit worthiness. It is up to you to decide if you want an item on your report but they probably won’t delete everything, so be aggressive. List the creditor, account number and amount of each item you would like gone. Use no more than three words of explaination: “account never late”, “duplicated account”, or “reported in error” should cover 90% of disputed items. Never say that a credit blemish is from fraud or criminal activity because you are saying that it is reporting true and you will have to prove you aren’t to blame. Say as little as possible.

It is the credit bureaus responsibility to act within 30 days but you want them to know when the clock starts. Send any Credit Dispute Letters certified mail with a signature required. From the moment someone signs for that letter they have 30 days to contact the reported creditors and get a written verification of the bad credit items. Time is on your side and you want the bureaus to know that.