Your Credit and Your Rights...Dispute your Credit Report On-Line (See below)
Your credit payment history is recorded in a file or report. These files or reports are maintained and sold by "consumer reporting agencies" (CRAs).
One type of CRA is commonly known as a credit bureau. You have a credit record on file at a credit bureau if you have ever applied for a credit or charge account, a personal loan, insurance, or a job.
Your credit record contains information about your income, debts, and credit payment history. It also indicates whether you have been sued, arrested, or have filed for bankruptcy.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed to help ensure that CRAs furnish correct and complete information to businesses to use when evaluating your application.
Your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act:
You have the right to receive a copy of your credit report. The copy of your report must contain all of the information in your file at the time of your request.
You have the right to know the name of anyone who received your credit report in the last year for most purposes or in the last two years for employment purposes. Any company that denies your application must supply the name and address of the CRA they contacted, provided the denial was based on information given by the CRA.
You have the right to a free copy of your credit report when your application is denied because of information supplied by the CRA. Your request must be made within 60 days of receiving your denial notice.
If you contest the completeness or accuracy of information in your report, you should file a dispute with the CRA and with the company that furnished the information to the CRA. Both the CRA and the furnisher of information are legally obligated to investigate your dispute.
You have a right to add a summary explanation to your credit report if your dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction.
This information is adapted from " Bound for Good Credit"published by the Federal Trade Commission. |
Here's a list of the three main Credit Reporting Agencies:
Please note I provide a telephone number however I would suggest checking with the "Home Page" of each credit company to find the particular telephone number that meets your needs. Please let me know if something needs updating.
Please note the CRA's are "most of the time", extremely hard to deal with. Patience and follow up is very important. Looking at credit repair is like a second job. Be very exact on who, what, where, and how of everything you are doing. For example, be sure to keep perfect records regarding your questions and dispute information. Always ask for their full name and/or ID number, and keep records of times, events, what was discussed. Keep a "file" reflecting everything. I know this sounds a little over done, but from my personal experience it's becomes necessary.
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Trans Union
P. O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
800-916-8800
Dispute: If you feel information on your report is inaccurate
Request an online dispute
You must have a copy of your Trans Union credit report to use this on line dispute service.
Get copy here
Be sure to have a credit card ready and when you are issued a Reference number, you provide a password, & etc. Please print or write down the web site address for access and the above information for future reference. |
Equifax
P. O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
800-685-1111 To order by phone your credit report
866-763-3464 Must have credit report Ref. number to dispute to live person
Dispute: If you feel information on your report is inaccurate.
Request an online dispute
You must have a copy of your Equifax credit report to use this on line dispute service
Get a copy here
Be sure to have a credit card ready and when you are issued a Reference number, you provide a password, & etc. Please print or write down the web site address for access and the above information for future reference.
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Experian
P. O. Box 9595
Allen, TX 75013-9595
888-397-3742
800-493-1058
Dispute: If you feel information on your report is inaccurate.
Request an online dispute
You must have a copy of your Experian credit report to use this on line dispute service
Get copy here
Be sure to have a credit card ready and when you are issued a Reference number, you provide a password, & etc. Please print or write down the web site address for access and the above information for future reference.
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FHA Loan Information Overnight Credit Repair ? I finally got it. There it was, right in my Inbox. An email guaranteeing to improve my credit scores. I wonder what took so long? The "Can Spam" Act? Nah, that hasn't seemed to slow down anything. I guess it just took a while for someone to figure it out. This is really a new variation on an old theme: credit repair. If you stroll down the aisles of most bookstores, you can see rows of books about consumer credit and how to "fix" bad credit. While most of the advice is standard consumer fare like "pay your bills on time" and "don't borrow too much" some try and use the system to get negative information off someone's credit report. One of the tricks to get bad stuff removed from a report is to play the "30-day game" which works like this: The consumer sends an overnight letter disputing a negative item and hopes that the reporting company doesn't respond within 30 days. The rule is that anything that can't be documented on someone's credit report must be taken off. If there's an error and you dispute it, contact the company passing out the bad information and demand that they either verify their claim of bad faith on your part or remove it immediately. The laws give such companies some leeway, in that they're given a little time to verifying the information you disagree with. This time frame is 30 days. If there's a collection account showing up on your report and it's not yours or it's not true, the reporting company has a 30-day period to prove what they're saying. If they can't, by law it must be removed. The tricky part is hoping that the company won't or can't respond within 30 days. Some companies who charge for this service have all sorts of schemes to almost guarantee that verification can't take place within the required time frame by providing return addresses overseas or in far-off places. Even though the derogatory information might be correct, these companies have different methods to try and "trick" the system. Now enter credit scores. The email I received just the other day made a similar claim 3; "We'll guarantee to increase your credit scores by having bad information legally taken off of your credit report." It's legal alright, as long as their tricks work. But the problem with having credit scores raised is that scores can't be re-calculated unless there's been a mistake corrected and the credit reporting agencies physically re-figure the credit score. This new plan doesn't work because scores don't automatically change when something is taken off the report. As part of their secret formula, credit scores look over an entire two-year history as part of their calculations. If something is a mistake, sure, the score can be re-done, but if it's simply removed for a temporary period of time, don't expect anything to happen. This new scheme to increase credit scores is just another in a long line of consumer scams. Don't get taken in.
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