Six months ago, I found 5 big errors on my credit report and contacted the creditors about them. Each creditor sent me a letter of correction and said that they would notify the credit bureaus. To date, all of the credit bureaus are still reporting the incorrect information. How can I make sure that the creditors and credit bureaus are reporting only accurate information?

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), credit reporting agencies are required to investigate any dispute they receive and delete or update those accounts found to be inaccurate. In your case, the creditors, who are not even challenging the inaccuracy of the accounts, have already done much of your work for you.

If you still have the letters of correction that the creditors sent you, make photocopies, and send them by certified mail to each of the three major credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union) with a letter explaining that these accounts are inaccurate and must be corrected. If not, just write to the credit bureaus declaring that you dispute these items and request a reinvestigation.

When the credit reporting agencies perform the reinvestigations, your creditors will inform them the information is inaccurate, and it should be corrected. Going to your creditors first was certainly a great idea, but you can speed up getting the inaccuracies removed from your report by initiating the credit bureaus' own investigations. Write to:

Experian National Consumer Assistance Center P.O. Box 949 Allen, TX 75013-0949

Equifax Information Services P.O. Box 740256 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Trans Union Corporation P.O. Box 390 Springfield, PA 19064-0390

Although a company may only report to the bureau infrequently, it is required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to investigate and reply to disputes within a timeframe that will allow the credit bureau to complete the reinvestigation within 30 days from the date it received your dispute. (The bureau is entitled to an extension if you submit additional evidence relating to your dispute after it has begun the reinvestigation.) Therefore, the removal of any inaccuracy will take place on a schedule completely independent from the creditor's normal reporting cycle.

And you are entitled by law to a statement of the resolution of your dispute, but from the credit bureau rather than the company that reported the information. The FCRA requires the bureau to notify you in writing within 5 days of finishing the reinvestigation that the process is complete, and provide you with an updated copy of your credit report if it has been revised.