Many people who are struggling with high debt balances tend to avoid reviewing their credit report. After all, who needs to be reminded that debt is overtaking their life? Well the cold hard truth of the matter is this; everyone needs to know what information has been reported to the credit bureaus in the event the information is incorrect. When incorrect information is spotted on your credit report or worse you begin getting calls from a collection agency for a debt that is not yours, you have only one option to remedy the situation and that is disputing the debt. The following information will show you how and why you should dispute a debt that you believe to is not your responsibility.

If you are being hounded for a debt that is not yours or see an invalid debt recorded on your credit report, you must take the steps necessary to remove the debt from your record. These tips will help you when disputing a debt.

• Understand your rights- Debt collectors must provide documentation of each debt if you believe the information is incorrect. Your credit report will be protected if you dispute incorrect information withing thirty days of collection proceedings. If you are unable to get things rolling in that period of time, you can still stop collection efforts temporarily by requesting in writing that documentation of the debt be provided for your review.

• Dispute letter- When you request information regarding a debt, you want specific information. Ask for an itemized, detailed statement which clearly shows how much you owe and why. If a collector is unable to provide such information, they cannot legally collect the debt from you.

• Contact the original creditor- With so many accounts being sold off to collection agencies, it is possible proof of payment got lost in transition. If you dispute your debt with a collection agency which they are unable to prove belongs to you, you might think you are finished. Unfortunately they can then in turn resell the debt to another company and the entire process begins starts over anew. For this reason you should go back to the original creditor with any proof you have showing you have paid the debt in question.

• Clearing your account- If you have disputed a debt or otherwise proven the debt is not yours, request a letter indicating the debt has been cleared. Once you have received this letter you can use it to dispute future claims on that debt as well as forward it to each credit bureau with a request to clear up any negative marks on your report resulting from the invalid debt.

Disputing a debt can be a frustrating and time consuming task, however it is necessary to fix the problem or risk having to deal with it for years to come. Remember you should only dispute invalid debts, if you legitimately owe the debt in question do not dispute the debt in an effort to avoid having to pay. The credit bureaus do not verify debts, they simply record information as it has been reported to them. If you fail to dispute an invalid debt, you will either have to pay a debt that is not valid or risk having that debt follow you forever causing problems with loans and other financial goals.