How do you challenge a negative item on your credit report?

In Credit of CreditGuy (January 16, 2009 1:54 pm)

credit report
joeinchino2000 asked:


I had an apt complex in California put a negative item on my credit report. The charges they list are invalid (they made up charges over 30 days after we moved out) but they hired a collection agency and I now have this thing on my credit report. How do I challenge it to get it off?

Bad Credit Repair
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

5 Comments »

  1. Most credit reports include a section on how to challenge inaccurate items. Just write them a letter and explain what you are challenging and why.

    Comment by hottotrot1_usa — January 19, 2009 @ 5:38 am

  2. Write a letter to each of the 3 credit reporting agencies. They will put it in the file. Call the better business bureau and try to resolve the issue. If the complex is erronious in their reporting, they will also have to write a letter to the credit reporting agencies.

    Comment by susan — January 20, 2009 @ 4:25 pm

  3. Two options, first you can do this online at the credit bureaus websites and second you can write them a certified letter return receipt requested they will then have 30-days to get in touch with the collection company and respond back to you.

    Personally I would do both

    Good luck.

    Comment by Leroy W — January 21, 2009 @ 12:08 am

  4. Dispute it as per “The Fair Credit Reporting Act”. Make sure you send the letters to all the bureaus reporting the derogatory item.

    Comment by Frank F — January 23, 2009 @ 12:46 pm

  5. You’re going to have to tackle this from both sides. File a complaint with each one of the credit bureaus, but also contact the apartment management and work a deal out with them. The complaint only works if the items are false…you have to prove they are false. The apartment complex can prove that you lived there and that there are charges that they attributed to you during your tenure. You are going to have to work with them to get the collection agency to remove the negative report.

    Comment by Enchantress71 — January 25, 2009 @ 3:04 am

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment