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5-Minute Template to Dispute Credit Report Letter - YouTube
Channel: Let's Talk Money! with Joseph Hogue, CFA
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The FTC found that one-in-five people have
a mistake on their credit report, a mistake
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that means you鈥檙e paying higher rates than
you should.
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By the end of this video, you鈥檒l not only
know how to check your report for mistakes
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but how to get them removed fast in less than
a few minutes online.
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In fact, getting just one mistake removed
from your credit report can mean a jump in
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your score by 40 points and save you thousands
in interest.
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We鈥檙e talking disputing your credit report
today on Let鈥檚 Talk Money.
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Joseph Hogue here with the Let鈥檚 Talk Money
YouTube channel.
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I want to send a special shout out to everyone
in the community, thank you for taking a part
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of your day to be here.
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If you鈥檙e not part of the community yet,
just click that little red subscribe button.
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Today鈥檚 video is the eighth in our debt
payoff series, an entire series on ditching
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your debt from creating those goals that are
going to motivate you to some tricks I鈥檝e
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learned to pay off debt.
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Think of it like a TV series, by the end of
this season, you鈥檒l have all the tools you
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need to finally get out from under that crushing
debt.
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Make sure you subscribe so you don鈥檛 miss
any of the episodes.
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I鈥檒l also be putting these videos in a special
list in the Playlists section of the channel
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and link to it in the video description below
so you can watch the series in order.
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In our last two episodes, I showed you the
only truly free way to get your credit report
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and how that report determines your credit
score.
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This is a hugely important topic because less
than 20 points on your FICO can mean a 2%
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difference in loan rates.
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Any bad marks on your credit report, and remember
that more than one-in-five Americans have
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a mistake on their report, are going to mean
you pay that higher rate.
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That difference of just 2% on a $180,000 mortgage
means a difference of over $117,000 on a 30-year
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mortgage.
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Someone with an 8% rate is going to pay almost
$326,000 just in interest while a borrower
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with a six percent rate pays $208,000 on that
same loan.
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Think about that, taking less than five minutes
to dispute your credit report can save you
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over one hundred grand.
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We also saw in the last episode that over
three million Americans get their identity
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stolen every year or report someone hacking
their credit.
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Don鈥檛 think it won鈥檛 happen to you.
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At some point, there will be something wrong
on your credit report and it will cost you
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money.
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There鈥檚 two ways to dispute credit report
mistakes, through a letter or online.
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It used to be you had to send a dispute letter
through regular mail but now all three bureaus
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have an online process.
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In fact, Experian and Equifax have shifted
to online only.
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I鈥檓 going to walk you through a dispute
letter first so you can use that if you like
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and then I鈥檒l show you how to do the only
process.
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You might want to watch through the dispute
letter because it鈥檚 going to give you an
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idea of what to say in the online forms as
well.
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So here鈥檚 a template you can use to get
errors removed from your credit report.
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You鈥檝e got the date, your name and address
at the top here.
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Next is the address for the credit bureau.
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Remember, you have three credit reports, one
from each of the three bureaus; TransUnion,
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Equifax and Experian.
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Not all lenders report to all three but most
do so any error on one report is probably
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going to be on the others as well.
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This means you鈥檙e going to need to do a
separate dispute for each bureau whether online
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or with a letter.
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You can use most of this letter as it is.
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The parts in red are where you need to fill
out the information from the mistake on your
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report.
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So you tell the credit bureau what the mistake
is and why it鈥檚 wrong.
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It鈥檚 a good idea to include a copy of your
credit report with the mistakes highlighted.
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You can write one letter listing multiple
mistakes so if there are more than one problem
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with the report.
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You also want to include copies of any documents
or letters that back up your story.
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This includes any payments or agreements with
the creditor.
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For disputes on your TransUnion credit report,
you鈥檒l mail this letter to:
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TransUnion Disputes
2 Baldwin Place, P.O.
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BOX 1000
Chester, PA 19022
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Send the letter certified mail with return
receipt requested so you have proof, keep
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a copy of everything you sent with the letter.
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Bureaus are legally obligated to check any
dispute and creditors have 30 days to respond
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the any bureau questions.
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So if you send a dispute letter and the creditor
doesn鈥檛 respond to the bureau鈥檚 questions
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within 30 days, you get the mark automatically
removed from your report.
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The online process to dispute your credit
report is similar but you鈥檒l have to put
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in your information first to find your report.
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Here are the links to each of the websites
to dispute credit at each of the three bureaus.
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I鈥檒l also include links in the video description.
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The process is the same on each site so we鈥檒l
look at Equifax.
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The first thing you see are buttons to either
start a dispute or to check on the status
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of one.
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Next you鈥檝e got this screen to put in your
address and personal information.
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This is to confirm your identity and help
the bureau find your report.
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For Equifax, you鈥檒l have a 10-digit number
at the top of your credit report that鈥檚
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like your customer number.
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After confirming your identity, you get to
the actual dispute part of the process.
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This is going to be the same as using the
dispute letter template and you can even copy
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and paste the letter onto the website.
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You鈥檒l also upload any documents for proof.
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Just like with the traditional dispute letter,
creditors have 30-days to respond to any questions
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from the credit bureaus.
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So the whole process on your end takes less
than half an hour for all three bureaus.
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It鈥檚 going to take a month or two for the
bureaus to investigate and get an answer from
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creditors.
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Once any bad marks are taken off your report,
you鈥檒l see your score jump almost immediately.
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Just one late payment more than 30 days can
hit your score 20 or 30 points so getting
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anything removed can mean a huge difference
in your FICO.
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Now there鈥檚 some things on your credit report
that you just can鈥檛 get removed.
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We鈥檝e all been there.
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Nobody鈥檚 credit is perfect.
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For these, we鈥檙e going to be talking about
negotiating with creditors to clear those
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debts for half of what you owe and get legit
bad marks removed from your report.
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Make sure you click on that subscribe button
so you don鈥檛 miss the rest of the videos.
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Click on the link just below this video to
watch the entire debt payoff plan and get
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out from under your debt.
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