Facts for Pittsburgh Consumers About Your Credit Report

DISPUTING INACCURATE INFORMATION

Contact each credit reporting agency (individually) IN WRITING, what information you believe to be inaccurate.  Please be sure to include copies NOT ORIGINALS of any documentation supporting your position.  In addition, your dispute letter should include the following:  complete name and address, social security number, should clearly identify the item you are disputing and all facts surrounding the dispute. 

The dispute letter should also be copied to (cc: ) the collection agency and/or original creditor that reported the inaccurate information.

Please explain why you dispute the information, and request that it be removed or corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Your letter needs to be sent via certified mail “return receipt requested,” so you can document what and when the consumer reporting company received.

REMEMBER:  KEEP GOOD RECORDS! KEEP EVERYTHING SENT TO THE CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY!           

Consumer reporting companies must investigate the items in question — usually within 30-45  days. They also must forward all the relevant data you provide about the inaccuracy to the organization that provided the information.  However, as stated above send a copy of the letter to the collection agency and/or original creditor yourself!

After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the consumer reporting company, it must investigate, review the relevant information, and report the results back to the consumer reporting company. If the information provider finds the disputed information is inaccurate, it must notify all three nationwide consumer reporting companies so they can correct the information in your file.

When the investigation is complete, the consumer reporting company must give you the results in writing and a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or deleted, the consumer reporting company cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies that it is accurate and complete. The consumer reporting company also must send you written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the information provider. If you request, the consumer reporting company must send notices of any correction to anyone who received your report in the past six months. You can have a corrected copy of your report sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years for employment purposes.

If an investigation doesn’t resolve your dispute with the consumer reporting company, you can ask that a statement of the dispute be included in your file and in future reports. You also can ask the consumer reporting company to provide your statement to anyone who received a copy of your report in the recent past. You can expect to pay a fee for this service.

Also, if the investigation doesn’t resolve your dispute make sure you contact Jeff for more information about your rights under the FCRA.

Reporting Accurate Negative Information

When negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage of time can assure its removal. A consumer reporting company can report most accurate negative information for seven years and bankruptcy information for 10 years. Information about an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer. There is no time limit on reporting: information about criminal convictions; information reported in response to your application for a job that pays more than $75,000 a year; and information reported because you’ve applied for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance.

There is a standard method for calculating the seven-year reporting period for negative accounts.  Generally, the period runs from the date of first default.  For more information about this and your rights under the FCRA, please feel free to contact Jeff.