In a perfect world, no one would get laid off from their jobs or overextend their credit. People would save their money and have loads of discretionary income and live as lavishly as they would like.

As much as we would like it to be, however, its not a perfect world. You can lose your job or your spouse/partner can lose theirs. Layoffs are not much better, with the hope of returning to work later in the year. Its promising, but still causes us to become late in paying, fall behind, or not be able to make payments to our creditors at all.

Experian Credit Bureau is one of the three major credit bureaus that determines your credit performance and judges whether you are a credit risk. A bad mark on your credit report can be detrimental to your credit future and whether you can go further financially.

But what happens if your credit report from Experian lists the wrong information about you and your credit history? What if you are a victim of identity theft and have not created the credit nightmare that is now your life? You do have options and there are things you can do.

There are things you can do to challenge what is reported on your credit report. Write a debt valuation letter to Experian to challenge what they have reported. This letter must have several key points that address several issues. Do not send all of your disputes in one letter and space your letters out so they are overwhelmed.

Make sure you copy any correspondence you have with Experian, including your debt valuation letter. Send the letter certified and return receipt requested. The letter should contain key questions such as the date of the debt, when it was due and the contract detailing the specifications of payments.

Experian is violating your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act if they continue to ignore your requests to investigate this debt. The legislation was enacted to protect you in situations such as this one.

If you are not able to get a response from Experian, keep trying. They are counting on you getting frustrated and giving up. Be persistent.

If you are responsible for the debt, there are no two ways around it. You have to pay it, and the only way to get a bad mark off your credit report is to clean up your financial outlook.