If you've already spent the past several months -- or even years
-- trying to scrub errors from your credit reports, it may feel
like you have no choice but to live with the inaccurate marks.
Don't give up. There are ways you can beat the
frustration-causing standard credit report dispute process, say
experts.
"The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that the credit
reporting agencies, such as Experian and Equifax and TransUnion,
conduct a reasonable investigation whenever a consumer disputes
information on their credit report," says Chi Chi Wu, a staff
lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center in Boston.
The problem is, they rarely do, she says. Instead, credit
reporting agencies often rely on the lenders, debt collectors and
other data providers that furnished the misinformation to
investigate a dispute. If the furnisher of the information
mistakenly verifies the errors as correct, then those inaccurate
marks will remain stuck in your credit file, no matter how many
times you dispute them.
"Because the bureaus spend so little time on investigating
errors and usually take the word of the furnisher over the
consumer, consumers often need to dispute multiple times, spend
countless hours trying to fix mistakes and eventually often have to
get legal counsel to get the problems fixed," says DeVonna Joy, an
attorney at the Consumer Justice Law Center in Big Bend, Wis.
But before you threaten legal action, here are 10 steps you can
take to make sure you submit a dispute that has the best possible
chance of getting an error erased.
1. Request a fresh report directly from the credit
bureaus.
Before you do anything else, order a fresh report from the credit
reporting agency, -- or agencies -- that are reporting the
inaccurate information. You'll need this report to send in your
next dispute and to keep on hand in case you later need to sue.
Order your report directly from the bureaus, not from a
third-party reseller, and avoid relying
on a report you got from a lender.
"If you get a report from a lender or another business, it may
be a merged report," explains Rod Griffin, director of education at
the credit reporting agency Experian. Ordering your report from the
credit bureau "ensures that we are looking at exactly the same
information that you are," says Griffin.
Ordering your most recent report also helps to make sure that
the information you're disputing is up to date, he says. "If you're
looking at a credit report that's several months old and asking
about it, we may be looking at a completely different account. It's
been updated or changed or something's happened," says Griffin.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to a free
copy of each of your reports at least once every 12 months. You may
also get a free report if you've been turned down for credit within
the last 60 days. You can order a fresh report online at
AnnualCreditReport.com, by telephone at 877-322-8228 or by mail. If
you've already used up your free report for the year or have a
report that's several months old, go ahead and pay to get a new
one, say experts. You can expect to pay up to $12, depending on the
credit bureau and the state where you live. Some states, such as
Colorado, California, Georgia and Maine, allow you to get an
additional report for free or at a reduced price.
2.
Pore over the report for errors large and small.
When you last checked your report and saw there was an error, you
may have only noticed major errors, such as a court judgment that
doesn't belong to you or a debt that you're sure you repaid.
However, look closely for other, smaller mistakes on your report,
such as incorrect addresses or a slight misspelling of your name,
say experts.
"Those kinds of things can be indicative of mixed files [or] of
identity theft," says Joy.
Small mistakes in your identifying information could also cause
bad information to get into the reports that lenders pull, which
may include more information than what you see on your personal
report, says Austin, Texas, consumer lawyer Amy Kleinpeter. "When a
consumer asks for a credit report, [the credit bureaus] pull the
information from an algorithm," she says, and the matching
requirements are fairly stringent.
"But when the car dealer or the lender goes [and asks for a
report], they use different algorithms that are wider and pull more
information," says Kleinpeter.
As soon as you get your latest report, Joy recommends that you
carefully scan it for variations of your name that you don't
normally use, unfamiliar addresses, incorrect Social Security
numbers or a wrong date of birth.
Also look at the section of your report that lists who has
pulled your credit information, she says. If you see a company that
you don't recognize or that you did not apply for credit from, ask
the credit bureau why it gave them your information. It could be
another sign that our file has been mixed up with someone else's
credit.
3. Mark up the credit report, highlighting the
mistakes.
"Photocopy the front page and photocopy the page with an error,"
says Kleinpeter. Then circle or highlight any error that you see,
even if the error seems minor.
If there are multiple errors on your report, put a number next
to each error, Kleinpeter adds. That will help you refer to the
errors when you write your dispute.
Once you've marked up the report, make multiple copies. You'll
need them for your files, as well for your disputes.
4. Write or type your dispute letter yourself. Don't
dispute the error online.
Sending in a dispute online may be quick. However, consumer lawyers
say it's one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
"The online dispute is all about the expediency of the credit
bureau," says Cary Flitter, a consumer lawyer and law professor in
Philadelphia. Most online dispute forms give you just enough room
to state your dispute, he says, but don't give you enough room to
back it up. "They want you to just say, 'not mine' or 'bill was
paid,' and that doesn't always tell the whole story," says
Flitter.
You also want to make sure you can fully explain any part of
your case that's complicated or confusing, says DeVonna Joy. "The
forms are set up to pigeonhole disputes into certain categories
that may not exactly apply," she says.
Online disputes are also not set up to accept additional
evidence, such as a copy of a check or of your Social Security
card, say experts -- and those pieces of evidence can be important
later on if you do need to go to court to prove that a credit
reporting agency isn't correcting a legitimate mistake.
In addition, many online dispute forms contain arbitration
clauses, which can undercut your consumer rights. "The credit
bureaus bury waiver clauses in the click agreement," says Flitter.
"By clicking, 'I accept," you're giving up the right to sue them if
they do something wrong."
Type up, then mail your dispute instead. That way, you can
include as much information and evidence as you need to explain
your case. Also, if you do wind up in court, you'll be able to
prove to the judge assigned to your case that you gave the credit
bureaus enough information to properly investigate your
dispute.
5. Separate disputes into multiple letters.
If you have more than one error on your report, don't try to
dispute all the errors together, says Flitter. Instead, write a
dispute letter for each error and mail them separately. "The
likelihood of getting something fixed is a lot better if you just
do one at a time," he says.
You'll also want to write separate letters to each credit bureau
that's reporting the mistakes, says Joy. You do not want to send
one big dispute to all three bureaus to save time." The credit
bureaus aren't obligated to notify each other of the dispute until
at least one of them has confirmed the error is inaccurate.
Keep a separate file for each bureau as well, she adds, so you
don't lose track of what you sent to which agency. "The devil is in
the details in these cases in terms of straightening things out,"
she adds, so it's important to keep it organized in case you need
it later.
6. Keep it simple.
The most effective dispute letters are often the easiest to read,
say experts. Don't try to cite legal arguments or use fancy words,
says Kleinpeter -- and avoid using form letters you found
online.
"A lot of the letters that people put online as samples don't
make any sense," she says. People throw in a lot of legalese and
fake legal words, which makes reading the letters a chore, says
Kleinpeter. "I've had a lot of well-meaning clients, intelligent
people use those letters," she says. "And they got
nowhere."
Instead, write a brief, pointed dispute letter that politely
explains in plain language what the error is and why the
information does not belong to you.
"You need to be very clear" about what you're disputing, says
Experian's Rod Griffin. "'The account was never mine.' 'The payment
was never late.'"
But you also want to make sure that you include enough
information to back up your claim, says Flitter. Otherwise, the
credit bureaus could later argue that you didn't give them enough
information, he says.
Finally, write the letter yourself, says DeVonna Joy. "The
dispute must come directly from the consumer to trigger credit
bureau obligations to investigate," she explains.
7. Include evidence.
Attach whatever evidence you can find, backing up your dispute.
"Include every bit of documentation and every bit of detail
available to you," says Leonard Bennett, a consumer lawyer in
Newport News, Va. That way, the credit bureau can't say that you
didn't give them enough information.
"The big three [credit bureaus] consistently lose or claim to
lose consumer correspondence," he adds, so make copies of all your
correspondence, including every piece of evidence that you
mail.
8. Mail your dispute to the credit bureaus -- and to the
data furnisher.
If you know which lender, collection agency or other type of data
furnisher (the ones giving out your information) is misreporting
your credit history, send them the same information that you sent
the credit bureau, say experts.
"Doing so at the same time may help resolve those issues more
quickly," explains Experian's Rod Griffin.
It also ensures that data furnishers have enough information to
investigate your dispute. "That's another reason to do paper
disputes because you're going to be caught in the middle," says
Flitter. The credit bureaus process your dispute by assigning a
category code to the dispute and sending a short summary to the
furnisher to investigate the problem. The credit bureaus rarely
include the documents you mailed with your dispute and so the
furnisher only gets the bare minimum of information, he says.
"Many court cases on this turn on the extent of the information
that the credit bureau gives the furnisher," says Flitter. "The
credit bureau will say, 'customer claims paid,' but they will never
attach a copy of the check. They're just not geared up to do
that."
It's also a good idea to send all your correspondence by
certified mail, say experts. That way, "If they come back and say,
'Well, we didn't get it,' you've got a little green card that the
post office sends back to you showing that they signed for it,"
says Markus Horner of Sachse, Texas, who spent years contesting
errors on his reports. Horner also recommends that you write the
certified mail number on each letter so that you can easily match
the certified card with the original dispute.
9. Stay organized.
"Obtain and keep very careful records. Of everything," says the
Consumer Justice Law Center's DeVonna Joy. "Who you talk to if
you call, when, what is said, all written communications, all
credit reports, all denials for credit ... Throw nothing out," she
says.
You never know when you'll need to use them later on. "Once
someone is mixed with someone else, either through theft of
identity or a credit bureau error, they are potentially always
mixed," says Joy.
LoriAnn Pecoraro of Paramus, N.J., also recommends creating a
"credit binder" to store each transaction and dispute. "I look at
this binder like it's my birth certificate," says Peccoro, who
spent nearly a year fighting errors on her report. "If you've got
it in black and white, you've got it," she adds.
10. Don't accept no for an answer.
If you've disputed an error several times and it continues to be
verified by the credit bureaus, consult a lawyer experienced in
Fair Credit Reporting Act cases.
"The best place to find one is at the website of the National
Association of Consumer Advocates," says Joy. "Click on 'Find an
attorney' and check the profiles of the attorneys in your state to
see if they handle FCRA cases."
Finally, don't lose patience, says Rahul Sharma of College
Station, Texas, who spent six years trying to get multiple errors
off his reports. "When you look online, people advise that you
can't do anything; there is no hope," says Sharma. However, if you
keep pushing for it, you'll eventually get the errors off your
reports, he says. "Just don't give up," Sharma adds.
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