Maybe your application for a credit car has been declined. Or maybe when you went to get a cell phone they told you that you’d need a $500 deposit. You’re not exactly sure how or why you have bad credit; all you know is that you have bad credit. Hopefully at this point you have decided to find out what’s on your credit report and what your credit scores are.

It’s at this time where most people find erroneous, inaccurate or unfamiliar accounts on their credit reports. In fact, a study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found that 79% of all credit reports contained errors. These accounts could be the reason you’re not getting approved for that loan.

The first thing you should know is this: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the only information that can remain on your credit report is not what is accurate, but what can be proven accurate. The information contained on your credit report was not reported by you and therefore you are not the one that has to prove the accuracy of the accounts. It was reported by your creditors or by collection agencies who think that you owe them something.

You have the right to dispute any information on your credit report. By disputing an account that you know is yours, you are not being dishonest. You are simply are asking the creditor and the credit bureaus to prove that it belongs on your credit report and to prove that the information they are providing is 100% accurate. If it’s not, they are violating your federal rights and the information must be removed or corrected immediately. If this is the case, you may seek damages against both the creditors and the credit bureaus. For this you will want to consult with an attorney specializing in bad credit report repair.

Please note that the credit bureaus do not like such disputes. Due to the amount of erroneous information they report, they must hire lots of workers to handles these disputes. And since it’s free for consumers to send in as many disputes as they want, the credit bureaus don’t make any money from this part of their business. In fact, they are losing money because of it!

The credit bureaus make their money from selling your private information not from making sure it’s correct. They would prefer that you never contact them about the accuracy of it. And that’s why it’s no surprise that they make it as difficult as they can for you to contact them and dispute accounts with them. They want to be able to sell information on you whether it’s correct or not. They don’t care about the damage it causes to your personal financial lives – they’re not paid to.