How To Dispute With The Credit Bureaus


In the world of disputing credit, there are many mistakes that consumers make daily that no only cause their credit scores to go down, but that can also cause them to lose a valid challenge with the credit bureaus.  Here are some guidelines and tips that will help you avoid making the most common credit disputing mistakes:

What Items Should You Dispute?

To help you get started, here’s a list of 15 of the most common dispute reasons. If any of these apply to the information being reported on your credit reports, you should consider the item negative:

  1. This account does not belong to me
  2. I was not 30, 60, 90 or 120 days late on this account
  3. This is a duplicate account
  4. This account is closed/open
  5. You are not reporting the correct limit on my account
  6. You are not reporting a positive account on my credit report
  7. This collection/charge-off was paid
  8. I never authorized this inquiry (Letter to Credit Bureau)
  9. I never authorized this inquiry (Letter to Creditor)
  10. This public record has been satisfied/released/dismissed/vacated
  11. The 7-year reporting period has expired on this account
  12. You are reporting wrong/expired/misspelled addresses on my credit report
  13. You are reporting misspelled/wrong names on my credit report
  14. You are reporting the wrong birth date on my credit report
  15. I am an authorized user on this account. Please remove it

As you can see from the list above, there are many items that you can question. Every bit of information must be accurate- remember that. These are all things that must be closely examined. Creditors make reporting mistakes all the time. If you do not catch them and report the mistake, it will remain. Once you determine what the mistake or error is, then challenge that item.

The Disputing Process

Now it’s time to take action. This means taking the steps to get the items on your list updated, corrected, or removed. When it comes to disputing, you must be ready to commit and follow through. Here are the guidelines:

  1. Send a letter to the credit bureaus giving them a detailed explanation of what you are requesting. Attach copies of any supporting documentation that you have (i.e. statements proving your correct credit card limits and proof of payments). Send letters certified, and, to avoid delay in their replies, always attach proof of social security and proof of address right from the beginning.
  2. Wait 35 days (allowing 5 days for mail time.) If the bureaus do not respond within 35 days, send a formal complaint letter reminding them that per Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act they are required to respond within 30 days from the date they received your initial dispute. Also remind them that per Section 616 & 617 of the same Act they are liable for damages, including punitive, and that if necessary you will seek legal representation. Attach your original dispute letter and proof of delivery to the complaint.
  3. Just because the credit bureau has determined an item “investigated” does not mean the results are accurate. If you are 100% sure that your claim is true and accurate, and the bureau responds stating that the creditor has verified the information and the item will not be removed or updated, you must request a reinvestigation under Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I highly recommend that you do so within 5 days of receiving the results of their investigation. You can repeat this process as many times as you want, however, after three to four attempts, I would consider moving onto the next step.

Disputing Tips

If the credit bureau continues to stand its ground on not updating or correcting inaccurate items on your credit report, here are some additional tips:

  • Attaching copies of lawsuit verdicts that show how consumers have prevailed against the bureaus can help you convince the credit bureaus to make the necessary changes to your reports. It lets them know that you are well aware of your consumer rights. In the book, The Big Score, you will receive several references to successful lawsuits won by consumers against credit bureaus and creditors with punitive damages awarded in amounts of hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions.
  • Look for other consumer stories on the web. There are many credit repair blogs in which consumers share their strategies. Be careful not to take advice as blind trust, but instead, look for helpful hints that pertain to your situation.
  • File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center. You may be able to have your case added to a class action lawsuit against the bureau that is reporting the inaccurate information. You can access the FTC Complaint Wizard at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml, or you can mail a complaint letter to the following address:

Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580

Disputing Do’s Don’ts

Here are some tips that will help you avoid making the most common credit disputing mistakes:

  • Dispute to the credit bureaus first. I always advise my clients to first dispute derogatory accounts with the credit bureaus before pursing more in-depth solutions. This way, any items that don’t belong on the report will be removed. Doing so will save you a lot of time in pursing dispute activity with collection agencies or creditors who 1) don’t exist anymore, or 2) don’t have your records on file anymore.
  • Not all creditors report to all three credit bureaus. One of the most important pieces of advice I can give you when it comes to disputing derogatory accounts is to make sure that you ONLY dispute with the credit bureaus that are reporting the derogatory item. Remember, not all creditors report to all three credit bureaus, so if you send a letter of dispute to a bureau that is not reporting a negative item you, risk having that item added to that bureau report.
  • Send Certified. If finances will allow, try to send all correspondence certified. In my experience, when the credit bureaus receive correspondence certified they take disputes seriously and are more likely to pay attention and respond more quickly. There is no need to pay additional fees for a registered return receipt. All you need to have is proof that they received your letter, and you can print off a certified tracking receipt from the post office website the day after delivery.
  • Refer to dispute identifiers. The dispute identifier is a number assigned to a credit report by the credit bureau for identification purposes and for tracking disputes. If you do not refer to the dispute identifier number in response to a credit bureau’s investigation results, you risk having to start your dispute process over again. Each bureau labels its dispute identifier numbers differently, as follows:
    • Equifax – Confirmation No.
    • Experian – File No.
    • TransUnion – Report No.
  • Avoid being labeled “Frivolous.” Inundating credit bureaus with dispute letters is the worst strategy you can use. Under Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a credit bureau has the right to consider your disputes frivolous or irrelevant. If you inundate the bureaus with letters that do not have supporting documents, the bureaus will eventually refuse to reinvestigate. Here is the language:

(3) Determination That Dispute Is Frivolous or Irrelevant

A) In general. Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a consumer reporting agency may terminate a reinvestigation of information disputed by a consumer under that paragraph if the agency reasonably determines that the dispute by the consumer is frivolous or irrelevant, including by reason of a failure by a consumer to provide sufficient information to investigate the disputed information.

Here are some tips to help you avoid being labeled as frivolous:

Don’t dispute more than 2-3 items per letter, with the exception of wrong names (aka’s), wrong addresses, employment information, and bankruptcy re-list items (accounts that should be included in a bankruptcy).

First, dispute items for which you have documented proof. These items should be disputed on individual letters. Once you receive confirmation from the credit bureaus that they have corrected the reporting on these accounts, then you can move onto the next level of disputing items for which you lack proof.

If there are multiple credit items that you are disputing, you should not waste your time or risk reaching this dispute threshold for late pays that are over 24 months old, unless you have documented proof to support your claim.

Each credit bureau has several different addresses. You can find a list of these addresses on my site at http://www.lindaferrari.com. I recommend that my clients dispute to the various addresses with different items. This way, they remove the risk of having their re-dispute letters end up in the hands of the person who denied their claim in the first place, and this also allows them to dispute more than 2-3 items at a time.

  • Send proof of social security and proof of current address with every letter that you send to the credit bureaus.
  • Don’t dispute items together with someone else’s – EVER. For instance, if you and your spouse are both disputing items on your credit reports, you MUST dispute separately; otherwise you run a risk of having the credit bureaus cross over the data (good and bad) on your files. This would create months of work in getting those items removed after the fact.
  • Never send originals of documents that support your claim (such as a note marked “paid” or a canceled check); send only copies and keep the originals.
  • Be realistic, don’t give up. Follow-through. Stay the course. If you walk 50 miles, you have to come back—50 miles—and although this book gives you the tools to help you get back faster, know that long-lasting credit improvement takes time.

Source: Linda Ferrari’s Book: The Big Score – Getting It & Keeping It