Is a verbal dispute to the credit bureaus good enough to fix false credit reporting?
Is a verbal dispute to the credit bureaus good enough to fix false credit reporting?
I’d like to chat with you about whether or not it’s a good enough to just call Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, etc. when you’re dealing with false credit reporting.
My answer is a big, “Maybe.”
It might fix your credit reports.
I’m skeptical of how well it works.
You can call them and make detailed notes on that call, or maybe even record the call.
But this is normally the better way to get errors fixed.
Dispute in writing.
You can still call and make notes.
In addition to calling, you should send a detailed letter that states what the error is, how it’s wrong and includes all of the documents that support your claim.
Send this letter to the furnishers, as well as the credit bureaus.
The furnishers would be companies like Capital One, Bank of America, NationStar, etc. These are the companies that provide (“furnish”) the information to the credit reporting agencies.
If you dispute the false information by sending a letter, there’s no excuse for them to not fix your reports.
Keep this in mind: the credit bureaus couldn’t care less about you.
They don’t even care if the credit reporting is accurate or not.
They care more about keeping Bank of America, Captial One, NationStar, etc. happy.
Consumers aren’t their customers, it’s the furnishers who are the customers.
Experian,TransUnion, Equifax,etc. would much rather handle disputes on the phone.
That way they can go to the furnishers, which tell them to leave the false information on there, and come back to you and say that they’ve done all they can.
You may be wondering, “Well, what if I call them and send this detailed latter, and they don’t fix my credit reports?”
You sue them under the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), and then they will have to explain why they didn’t fix the false credit reporting.
They’ll say, “We just asked Bank of America what they wanted us to do.”
Then the judge will ask, “Well, did you look X document, Y document, and Z document? Did you investigate using these documents?”
They’ll tell the judge that their investigation was asking the furnisher whether or not to keep the information on your credit report.
That’s a pretty foolish decision the credit bureaus made.
When you send a detailed letter to the furnisher and the credit bureaus, it gives them zero excuses to leave false information on your credit report.
If you have any questions, or you would like to find out your options, feel free to get in touch with us.
You can reach us by phone at 1-205-879-2447.
Or, if you prefer, you can fill out a contact form and we will get in touch with you quickly.
We looking forward to chatting with you.
Have a great day!