A consumer credit report is a factual record of a person’s credit payment history. It is given for a purpose allowed by law: to help a credit grantor or lender quickly and objectively figure out whether to grant you credit. A lot of the information in consumer credit reports comes straight from the companies a person does business with, but some information also comes from public records.

Credit reporting can be helpful in extreme cases, however it is often misrepresented by collection agencies that try to sell their services. When a collection agency announces a delinquent account to a credit bureau, it does not get the business any money today. On the ohet hand it provides a ‘wish’ for a payment some unknown time in the future if the debtor ever needs to do a financial transaction that involves a creditor that verifies their consumer credit report.

The problem is that credit reporting at the same time can create a liability for businesses because of collection agencies stating accounts that were not valid debts. This can open the business to legal action - a thing that no businesses needs. It has been calculated that over 41% of the data contained in consumer credit reports has errors, and with identity theft on the rise, a business must tread lightly when thinking about credit reporting.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates the activities of credit reporting agencies. A credit reporting agency under this law implies that any person or business which assembles or verifies consumer credit data for the purpose of providing consumer credit reports to third parties.

According to consumer credit report laws, here are some facts that cannot be stated in consumer credit reports:

A discharge or final order in Bankruptcy Court dated more than 10 years prior to the date of the consumer credit report.
Lawsuits and judgments entered more than 7 years prior to the date of the consumer credit report.

Paid tax liens which, from the date of payment, precede the report by more than 7 years.

Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss by the creditor that are dated more than 7 years before the credit report.

Records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime that, from date of disposition, release, or parole, precede the report by more than 7 years.
Any other adverse information that precedes the report by more than 7 years.

Out there are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, Trans Union. Federal law states how long negative data can stay on a person’s credit report. This includes late payments, accounts that the credit grantor turned over to a collection agency and judgments filed against a person in court - even if later the account was paid.

A lot of people already know that of the information that is found in the credit report almost 40% of it is filled with mistakes. A lot of times, these are generally minor misspelled details for negative things which might not even belong to the owner of the report. All of them will seriously damage the credit rating score if it is not dealt with immediately.

Most people ignore this and cause their credit to decrease and even permanently destroy any chance for them to get any kind of loan, because the effects is not felt until they are trying to get approvals for loan when they want to make important purchases. Therefore, in order to correct this information, one has to go through a credit report dispute. This requires a simple bunch of steps which eventually leads to both an amendment or elimination of the wrong details in the report.

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On the other hand if, you can carefully follow these steps during the dispute, it could well save you some time and energy.

Simple credit report dispute steps

Before anything, try to get a copy of the report from the major reporting agencies. It is likely that you might get different report from the agencies, maybe some small details, but the items that are listed should be similar.

Once you identify any errors in this report, it is best to start a formal communication with the reporting credit agency. This can be done by email, letter or telephone call. Regardless of the approach, make sure that you have evidence associated with the communication to the agency. The letters and e-mail messages must state the exact mistake and provide the needed information or explanation.

Remember that sending this letter is definitely just a hint of what to come in the next days. Be prepared to wait for 45 days the least and you shouldn’t panic if the agency didn’t respond. because it can be for a period of up to 60 days. But, you should not start stressing in case the agency has not responded to you. However, it would be best to follow up the dispute at every chance you get. When the agency eventually communicates with you, make sure that you are ready to assist with the investigation.

In the case when the dispute is not addressed following the allotted 60 days period, you can then opt to post a declaration of dispute to the Assistance Center. They should be able to assist you with the dispute that was ignored and get it solved in a short time.

The steps you need to take in eliminating these mistakes might seem long, but your long wait will not be in vain in the end when you are looking at an error free report and become eligible for loans in the future.

Before answering the question - how do you delete inquiries on a credit report I’ll explain what inquiries are.

Basically an inquiry means that someone took a look at your credit report. Your credit report is read by creditors and lenders to decide whether or not they will give you credit. Besides that, they are used by insurance companies to decide whether or not they will cover you with an insurance policy. Naturally they will take a look at your credit report, an inquiry, in order to come to a decision.

Credit reports are used by landlords if you submit an application to rent an apartment or house. They will need to know your social security information, birth date and other information in order to check your credit report and your credit rating or FICO score and this, again, is an inquiry.

On the other side having too many inquiries can be negative, because it coule mean that you are trying to get more credit than you can handle.

So How Do You Delete Inquiries From Your Credit Report?

Keep an eye opened for any unauthorized inquiries because thieves could have requested credit in your name. They may be acting as if they’re a legitimate business or company that has a legal right to access your credit report. You can easily get these removed by simply writing a letter with documentation and an explanation.

But that is not all there are two kinds of inquiries. There are “soft” inquiries and “hard” inquiries. “Soft” inquiries will not affect your FICO score. It’s only seen by you and does not impact your credit score. When you ask for a copy of your credit report you will be noted as an inquiry, a “soft” inquiry. Any of the creditors you have now can have a look at your credit report during your association with them and these are also “soft” inquiries.

“Hard” inquiries on the other hand affect your credit report and FICO score. When you apply for credit whether it’s for credit cards or an auto loan for example, this will reflect on your credit score. Lenders are worried that you have too much outstanding credit now and only so much income. They want to be assured you’ll have no problem paying it back.

These inquiries will expire by themselves in two years. You may not be able to remove them before that if they’re correct. If there are any inquiries that you have not authorized, you can get them removed by writing a letter to the credit bureaus or credit reporting agencies that listed them.

There is however one exception: if you have two inquiries from the same source you may be able to get them merged in order to have one of them deleted.

Finally you need to know that inquiries that have been on your credit report for more than six months are usually not taken into account when creditors or lenders consider granting credit or loans. This should get some problems off your shoulders.

This is pretty much everything you need to know about credit report inquiries, what they are and how to remove them from your credit report. Keep following our site for more information on credit reports and related topics.

Your credit report includes a list of every member creditor who has lent you money or provided you with credit in any way, at a given time. It shows your charge accounts, automobile loans, bank and student loans, home mortgage, and any other credit-related transaction. It also shows when the credit line was opened, the highest amount you ever borrowed, how much you owe now, and whether you were late or you’ve missed any payment.

Your credit report also contains certain items known as “Public Records”. Public Records include any credit-related lawsuits that you may have been involved in as well as liens, repossessions, foreclosures, judgments and bankruptcies.

Credit bureaus also report the names of other member creditors who have made inquiries into your account. For example, if a potential lender sees too many recent inquiries, they might not grant you credit if they feel that you are getting overextended.

There are, however , two types of inquiries that are part of your record but are never seen by creditors. There are inquiries made by you, on your own behalf, and inquiries made by companies that send you all of those unsolicited credit card and loan offers that you get in the mail. So, while these offers may be annoying to some, the good news is that you are not being penalized by them.

How am I identified in my credit report?

Your credit report lists your name, current and previous addresses, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Spouses Name (if you are married) and your employer. That is pretty much it, by law, your credit report cannot contain information about your race, religious beliefs, political affiliations, sexual preferences, criminal records, or any other lifestyle issues.

How far back does my credit report go?

Positive or “good” credit information remains on your report for as long as you have an active credit relationship with the creditor and for up to seven years after that relationship ends satisfactorily.

Negative, or “bad credit” remains for seven years except for bankruptcies which remain for up to 10 years. Read about all the exceptions here.

On another hand. You are entitled to a free credit report from any agency that provided information that resulted in your being denied credit, insurance or a job if you request it within 60 days of the denial.

If you are lucky enough to be a resident of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Vermont then there are state laws that entitle you to receive one free report from any one credit-reporting agency per year. If you live in Georgia then you may get two.

It’s always good to know what is in your credit report and who has been inquiring about your credit. Get the free credit reports you are entitled to every year and stay on top of your credit..