Business and personal credit can affect your small business in several ways. Good credit can help you secure more affordable funding to help run and grow your company. On the other hand, poor credit can limit your small business financing options.
Although they’re generally rare, credit reporting errors can impact your credit score and financial opportunities as well. Read on to learn how to identify and dispute errors on your business and personal credit reports.
Step 1: Obtain Your Full Reports
Both your personal credit score and your business credit score can come into play when it comes to securing small business financing. As a result, it’s essential to keep an eye on your reports from the major credit bureaus. Personal credit reporting bureaus do not monitor business credit, just like business credit reporting bureaus do not keep track of consumer credit histories. There are three major personal credit bureaus and three major business credit bureaus.
In order to access your consumer credit reports, you can request copies of your full reports online through AnnualCreditReport.com or through each company directly:
To access your business credit reports, contact each of the major business credit bureaus:
Step 2: Closely Examine All Sections of Your Credit Reports
Next, carefully comb through all sections of your credit reports. Ensure that your personal and business information is accurate and up to date. Financial data including credit accounts, payment history, outstanding debt and age of credit can affect your score, so make sure there are no errors listed on your reports.
Step 3: Document Any Errors
As you review your credit reports, make a note of any inaccuracies as well as the specific credit bureau(s) listing the error(s). You’ll need to dispute any error you encounter with each individual credit bureau.
Although credit bureaus generally use the same type of information to calculate credit scores, it’s possible to find an error listed on one credit report and not others. In other words, credit bureaus do not necessarily collect and report exactly the same information as other bureaus, so it’s important to make sure all the data you see is accurate and updated on each report.
Step 4: Contact the Business or Entity that Supplied the Error
If you find an error, you’ll need to contact the company that provided the credit bureau(s) with the reporting mistake(s). You’ll also want to supply documentation or proof of the error to support your claim, if applicable. Include copies of any related payment records, contracts and/or other documentation in your correspondence to the credit bureau(s) listing an error on your report.
You can use this template to contact a company that furnished inaccurate information to the credit bureau(s):
(Date)
(Your Name or Company Name)
(Your Address or Company Address)
Dear (Business Name),
I am writing to dispute inaccurate information that your company provided to (Name of Credit Bureau) on my behalf. I have enclosed a copy of my credit report with the error(s) highlighted for your reference. Please investigate the following information:
-
- (Provide a thorough explanation of the error(s) on your credit report.)
I have enclosed the following document(s) to support my claim:
-
- (List any statements, agreements or other documentation that you’ll submit with the letter in order to back up your error report claim.)
- (Provide a copy of your credit report with the error clearly marked for easy reference.)
Thank you,
(Your Name)
The company should then investigate your reporting error claim.
Step 5: Send an Error Dispute to the Credit Bureau
If you find a reporting error on your personal credit report(s), contact the appropriate company to submit an error dispute:
If you see a reporting error on a business credit report(s), submit a dispute to the appropriate credit bureau:
You can use this template to dispute credit reporting errors with a credit bureau:
(Date)
(Your Name or Company Name)
(Your Address or Company Address)
Dear (Name of Credit Bureau),
I am writing to request an investigation of an error that appears on my [Business or Personal Name of Credit Bureau] report.
-
- (Provide a thorough explanation of the error(s) on your credit report.)
- (Include the name of the company, account number, financial data and date(s) provided on your credit report.)
I have enclosed the following document(s) to support my claim:
-
- (List any statements, agreements or other documentation that you’ll submit with the letter in order to back up your error report claim, if applicable.)
- (You may want to also include a copy of your credit report with the error highlighted or circled for reference.)
Thank you,
(Your Name)
Save a copy of your dispute letter and any documents provided. You should receive a notification once your credit error dispute has been reviewed and/or resolved. If a credit bureau finds that your dispute is correct, they will remove the error from your credit report.
Step 6: Continue Monitoring Your Credit Reports
Depending on your error submission, you may be able to have the inaccurate data removed from your credit report. However, you may need to follow up again to make sure that your error dispute has been resolved properly. If necessary, you may want to resubmit an error dispute if you find that your credit report still contains incorrect information. Aim to monitor your full credit reports as often as possible in order to prevent reporting errors from impacting your credit score.
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