Dealing With Mistakes On Your Credit Report
If your name is actually John Doe, then you may have problems with a lot of things; phonebook listing entries, not to mention that a few people won’t take you very seriously once you provide such a name in your credit application. If you’re a John Smith, there is a chance that another, unrelated John Smith may have made a credit transaction, and the entry ends up on your report. Whether the mistake is deliberate or not, you have to correct the entry, especially if it involves a significant amount of charge, or if it entails a violation of credit policy. You do have the right to correct errors on your statement by dispute, according to the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Here’s a step-by-step guideline on what you can do.
As a precautionary measure, you should always document every transaction you involve yourself into; record the date and time of phone call transactions, the people with whom speak with, what was said and the resulting actions. Keep a copy of every document they send you as well. If you have to send documents, send copies, not originals. And remember to be tenacious and aggressive in dispute – the process may take up to six months, and you have to send out the impression that you won’t back down.
As expected, the dispute begins by writing a letter which details the inaccuracies on your report, and your reasons for considering them as such. Send a notice to the Credit Reporting Agency and let them hear your take on the issue, with emphasis on trying to straighten out the inconsistencies and errors on your report. The notice must include your contact information, and the inaccuracies should be explained in detail. Give the hard facts and demand that they correct the error on your statement. It may also be to your benefit if you attach a copy of the report with the erroneous entry encircled, along with documents which help build up on your claim. Send out the notice via certified mail; these come with a receipt to ensure that the letter was received. You’ll also have to send the same notice to the concerned merchant, or to the creditor who provided the inaccurate entry. Inform them clearly that you are disputing the error. Send the same copies of documents which you provided with the CRA notice.
The CRA is given thirty days to investigate the dispute; if after such time you don’t receive a response, get in touch with their customer department. If the entry was proven incorrect, it has to be removed from the report and treated as if it never existed; once this change has been made, the CRA cannot alter it except in cases when the creditor shows some infallible counterproof. In such event the CRA will notify you that the disputed information is reentered into the report, and will also provide you with contact information of the other party. You can continue the dispute so long as you have the resolve; the process can take a long time depending on the merits of your claim, so be prepared for the long haul.