Credit 3

📚 Module 3: Building a Dispute Strategy

"From Understanding to Action"

Welcome to Module 3 of Grahamith' Credit Education Course.
Now that you know how credit works and the laws that protect you, it’s time to move into action.

This is where real change begins.
A powerful dispute strategy is based on knowledge, not just templates.

At Grahamith, we believe in teaching the strategy behind credit education — not just giving you letters to send blindly.

🧠 Main Teaching Points

1. What is a Dispute?

A dispute is a formal request asking the credit bureaus or furnishers (the companies reporting your accounts) to correct information that is:

  • Inaccurate
  • Outdated
  • Incomplete
  • Unverifiable

You are not begging for forgiveness.
👉🏽 You are asserting your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

2. Common Reasons to Dispute

Some valid dispute reasons include:

  • Wrong personal information (wrong name, wrong addresses)
  • Accounts that don’t belong to you (identity confusion or fraud)
  • Incorrect balances, dates, or payment history
  • Accounts showing duplicate or outdated information
  • Public records (like bankruptcies) that are incomplete or wrong

Important:
✅ Only dispute items that you can legally and ethically challenge.

3. How to Choose Which Items to Dispute First

Start with:

  • Accounts with the most damaging impact (like late payments, charge-offs, collections)
  • Items that are clearly inaccurate or unverifiable
  • Personal information errors (this can help weaken connections to bad accounts)

Why this order?
Fixing major errors first can lead to faster score increases.

Student Tip:
✅ Focus on 2–5 accounts per bureau at a time — not everything at once.
(This avoids being flagged as "frivolous.")

4. Building a Step-by-Step Dispute Strategy

Your basic dispute flow should look like this:

Step

Action

1

Pull updated copies of all 3 credit reports

2

Highlight errors, incomplete data, or unverifiable accounts

3

Draft dispute letters clearly identifying each problem

4

Send disputes certified mail (or use an online portal if allowed)

5

Track bureau responses carefully (30–45 days window)

6

If needed, escalate using additional disputes or CFPB complaints

Student Action:
✅ Create a credit dispute tracker:

  • Item disputed
  • Date dispute sent
  • Response received
  • Outcome (Corrected, Deleted, Verified)

5. Important Rules to Remember When Disputing

✅ Always stay organized — keep copies of letters and proof of delivery.
✅ Be clear, professional, and direct in your dispute letters —no emotional language.
✅ Only include facts — not personal complaints about hardships.
✅ Don’t dispute accurate, good accounts — positive history is your friend.
✅ If the bureaus claim your dispute is "frivolous," you have the right to escalate.

🎯 Lesson Recap

Disputing is not arguing —
👉🏽 It’s exercising your federal rights to have only accurate, complete, and verifiable information reported.

When you approach disputes strategically, professionally, and legally,
👉🏽 You shift the results — not just for yourself, but for everyone you help.

✅Next Up:
Crafting and Sending Your First Professional Dispute Letters

You'll learn how to create clean, compliant letters that match Grahamith standards — and start your credit transformation the right way.