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creditors. Follow the same rules for document filing as 
mentioned above for credit bureaus. Every time you have a 
telephone conversation with a creditor, you must document 
the contents of the conversation by writing the name of the 
person you spoke with, his or her position, the date and 
time of the conversation, what was said, and what you agreed 
to do. You should also get the name of the person's 
superior, and the superior's direct phone number as well. 
This documentation should be noted on a single sheet of 
paper and filed chronologically in the creditor's file.  
Analyzing your credit report 
When you first receive your Trans Union and Equifax credit 
reports, you will be totally lost. The information is coded 
in a way that is not immediately readable by the average 
consumer. Each credit report should arrive with a key that 
interprets the codes and indicators on the credit report. 
Sit down with the report and the key and study it until you 
understand what each number and code means. Don't write on 
your original credit report -- yet. Make all of your notes 
on a copy of the report. You will be sending your original 
report with your dispute letter, so you should make at least 
two copies of each new report. The original goes with the 
dispute, one copy is for notes, and the other copy is kept 
clean for your file. Gather a yellow and orange highlighter 
pen. Whenever you identify a negative listing, mark it in 
yellow on your scratch copy of the credit report. Often, it 
is difficult to tell if an item on the credit report is 
negative or positive.  
The following table will help you identify every negative 
listing on your credit reports: Negative Credit Indicators 
If the listing contains one or more of these indicators, 
then the listing is negative. If the listing contains none 
of these indicators, then the listing is positive. TRW 
Credit Report any item marked with an asterisk any inquiry 
Trans Union Credit Report any item rated higher than I1, M1, 
or R1. any item listed as repossession, foreclosure, profit 
and loss write-off charge-off, paid profit and loss 
write-off, paid charge off, settled, settled for less than 
full balance, or included in bankruptcy any collection 
amount, whether paid or not. any court account, including a 
lien, judgment, bankruptcy chapters 11, 7, or 13, divorce, 
satisfied lien, or satisfied judgment. any item showing one 
or more thirty, sixty, or ninety day late payments in the 
column to the far right. any inquiry. Equifax Credit Report 
any item rated higher than I1, M1, or R1 (such as R2 or I9). 
any item proceeded by a ">>>" icon. any item listed as 
repossession, foreclosure, profit and loss write-off 
charge-off, paid profit and loss write-off, paid charge off, 
settled, settled for less than full balance, or included in 
bankruptcy. Any collection amount, whether paid or not. any 
court account, including a lien, judgment, bankruptcy 
chapters 11, 7, or 13, divorce, satisfied lien, or satisfied 
judgment. any item showing one or more thirty, sixty, or 
ninety day late payments in the column to the far right. any 
inquiry. Once you have marked all negative items on your 
credit report with a yellow highlighter, you may begin 
looking for inaccuracies and inconsistencies in your credit 
report. Whenever you identify an inconsistency or inaccuracy 
on your credit report, mark it with the orange highlighter. 
An inaccuracy is something you know is not true, such as a 
listing that doesn't belong to you or a listing showing the 
wrong balance. An inconsistency is when the same information 
on the credit report contradicts itself, such as a listing 
showing 12 thirty-day late notations when the listing only 
shows 4 months reviewed. Later, when you are constructing 
your dispute, you can use these inaccuracies and 
inconsistencies to lend credibility to your challenge. 
Drafting your Disputes 
Don't wait for all of your credit reports to arrive before 
you begin to analyze and dispute them. Remember, you will 
need to invest two things to restore your credit: money and 
time. Not only will you invest substantial time in analyzing 
your credit report, preparing your disputes, speaking with 
creditors, and tracking your results, but you will invest 
calendar time. You want every day to eat away at your bad 
credit. That can only happen if you never procrastinate any 
step of this process. If you procrastinate drafting your 
disputes, you will never finish the job. If you tend to 
procrastinate, seek professional help to restore your 
credit.  
After you've analyzed your reports and marked every negative 
listing in yellow and every inaccuracy and inconsistency in 
orange, you may begin to develop your dispute letter. As 
previously mentioned, we will provide no form letters for 
disputes as they will quickly be spotted and rejected by the 
credit bureaus. Rather, we provide general strategies which 
have proven effective in forcing the credit bureaus to 
fulfill their responsibility and conduct an investigation 
into your disputed items.  
Fundamentally, you must follow these rules: The Ten 
Commandments of Disputing Your Credit  
Commandment One: Never lie in your disputes or on your 
credit applications. In many states, it could be a crime for 
you to lie when disputing your credit report. Therefore, you 
are cautioned that you must never lie or make misleading 
statements when disputing your credit report or completing a 
credit application. In most cases, it is a federal crime to 
lie on a credit application. Furthermore, it is unnecessary 
to lie when disputing your credit report. Remember, you have 
the right to dispute your credit report so long as you have 
reason to believe that is in unverifiable, inaccurate, or 
obsolete. In order to dispute information that is 
technically accurate, but should still be investigated and 
deleted on the basis of verifiability, you must invent other 
means of disputing the listing besides claiming that it is 
"not mine" or "was never late." 
Commandment Two: Always indicate whether the disputed 
listing is being challenged as "not mine" or "not late." 
While you must never say that the account isn't yours or 
that you were never late unless you have reason to believe 
that statement is true, the credit bureau must know if you