 TITLE: What Does It Mean to Clean Up Your Credit? CONTENT: How to Clean Up Your Credit Report Yourself\n-------------------------------------------\nTo clean up your credit, start by reviewing your credit reports. You can get yours for free once every 12 months from each of the three credit bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. You can also access your free Experian credit report directly on Experian's website.\nLook through all three of your credit reports thoroughly. That means checking to ensure your name is spelled correctly and all your account details are up to date.\nIf you see any information you believe to be in error, you can begin the dispute process. At Experian, here's how:\n1.  Go to the online dispute center. (It's also possible to initiate a dispute by phone or by mail.) Once there, you can click on the \"Start a new dispute online\" button to begin the process. Potentially negative items on your Experian credit report that you may want to take special care to review will be flagged. You can also navigate through to each credit account on your report and initiate disputes from there.\n2.  If you find an item you'd like to dispute, you'll be asked to choose from a drop-down menu of reasons why, then leave a comment with details about your situation. You may also be asked to upload supporting documents.\n3.  Experian will confirm that your dispute has been submitted, and you'll receive alerts about the status of your dispute. When necessary, Experian will contact the source of the disputed information, such as a lender, to review their records. While a few factors can affect how long the dispute process takes, most disputes are completed within 30 days.\n4.  Experian will let you know when your dispute results are available. You can expect one of three outcomes: Your information will be modified, deleted or remain unchanged if it was found to be correct.\nYour credit scores could be affected by your dispute's resolution. If, for instance, an erroneously reported late payment comes off your report, your credit scores could improve. But many factors affect your scores, and depending on the circumstances, you may not see an immediate, meaningful change. END