| Most people are unaware of the fact that you can | | | | with each bureau separately. Each bureau acts |
| have collection accounts deleted from your credit | | | | independently of the other and having the account |
| report. Most people have collection accounts on their | | | | deleted from one will not mean it will be deleted from |
| credit report for 1 of 2 reasons. Either they had a | | | | the other two. Most lenders take a look at all three |
| credit account, which went into collections or the | | | | credit reports so you want to make sure you repeat |
| collection is a case of mistaken identity and they do | | | | this step with each bureau. |
| not own the account. | | | | Once the credit bureaus receive your dispute in the |
| Regardless of your situation you can have the | | | | mail, they have a certain time to investigate the |
| collection deleted from your credit reports. The first | | | | account and let you know the result of the outcome. If |
| step is to request a copy of your credit report with the | | | | they have not finished their investigation within the |
| 3 main credit bureaus (Equifax, Transunion and | | | | given time, they will be required to delete the item from |
| Experian). You want to see which credit bureaus have | | | | your credit report. |
| the collection account listed on your report. | | | | It is important that you are familiar the Fair Credit |
| Once you have identified which bureaus have the | | | | Reporting Act, this is the law that the credit bureaus |
| account listed, the next step is to dispute the collection | | | | must abide when handling your credit file. |