According to the major credit reporting agencies there are some guidelines that you need to follow when disputing errors on your credit report. When you hire a credit restoration agency you don't need to know these guidelines, you just simply hire them and let them worry about getting your report clean, after all that's their job. For those of you that opt to do-it-yourself I am going to write some credit dispute guidelines for dummies. Ha- just kidding!

OK now for some dispute guidelines:

-Be creative in formulating your letters (credit bureaus get billions) and don't use a form letter.

-Never lie or make misleading statements it's a federal offense.

-Inform the bureau for your reason of dispute, such as: "Account contains in accurate or incorrect information" or "It doesn't belong to me."

-Be clear as to what you want them to do with the item in dispute, such as: "Never late please reflect so on my credit report" or "Never late please remove item from my report"

-Don't dispute foreclosure's, bankruptcies, repossessions or court records as they bear to much on your credit to just have an update and you won't see any increase in score. Instead opt for a complete removal of it from your credit report.

-Be authentic in your writing; come across as a disgruntled consumer upset over the items. Just make sure not to go over board!

-According to the FCRA the bureaus must legally investigate any items in dispute that are not "Frivolous or irrelevant." If you dispute every 45 days or so until favorable results are seen you should be OK

Keep in mind that what you are in barking on is a process that takes a lot of time, patience, good record keeping and the tenacity to keep at it. Keep good records, send each letter certified mail and make sure and spend some time reading up on the credit laws. If you are not prepared for any of the above mentioned you should stop now and seek the help of a professional.

Do some research of your own and formulate a plan that is going to suite you. Set some goals of what you expect to see as a result of your work, weather it is removing some old items that have plagued your report or a gain in a hundred points.

Write them down and then work at it until you reach that goal. Don't believe everything you hear, find out for yourself! Be creative and be positive in what you expect to see removed. If somebody tells you it can't be done or removed don't give up, chances are somewhere along the lines the credit company might slip up. Remember they get billions of letters and a short thirty-day time frame to handle all those disputes.

Lastly make sure and answer all letters you receive from the credit bureaus and be creative so that they don't think that you are using a form letter. If they suspect a form letter or that it is from a credit repair company they will respond with their own form letter. Good luck!