Lisa Carey asked:


Errors on your credit report may take a variety of forms from simple spelling errors or no new address reported to fraudulent uses of your credit to obtain financing for purchases. There are two different ways to correct or “dispute” this information; online or in writing.

If you need a credit report visit “An Overview of the Fair Credit Reporting Act” http://www.identitytheftsecrets.com/an_overview_of_the_fair_credit_reporting_act_what.html for information on how to obtain your free credit report and why you are entitled to one.

Here is a step by step process for disputing your credit report information:

It is important that you receive your credit report from all three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax-800-685-1111 www.equifax.com ; Experian-888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742) www.experian.com ; TransUnion-800-916-8800, www.transunion.com: as different credit companies report to different agencies. Not all creditors use only one and the incorrect information may appear in different reports. You may obtain your credit report online for free one time a year, with each additional report costing and additional sum, usually $10.00. If you are obtaining your first free annual credit report it will include all three agencies, you do not need to request one for each. However, you may find it more cost effective to use a credit monitoring system with a yearly fee that gives you all three credit reports in one on a periodic basis which you determine.

Next, review your credit report and mark the incorrect information. You may wish to print your report out to do this – especially if you have several mistakes or errors. Be sure to record the name, address, amount and account number if available in your notes.

Third, write the credit reporting agency a letter indicating that specific information if incorrect.

Fourth, attach to the letter any supporting documentation to dispute the inaccurate information. I recommend that one of your attachments be a copy of your credit report with specific errors circled or noted in some manner. You may wish to number them and then address as each numbered point within your letter, especially if you have several errors or mistakes. For example, there were errors on my credit report that all listed a false address and a variation of my name. I provided proof of my name over the period of several years, proof that the address did not exist and proof regarding my primary address that was listed on one, as it was not my address but a rental property.

NOTE: The most important thing you need to do when attaching documents is to include COPIES. Do not send originals as you may need that information for another report or in the future.

Fifth, write another letter to the credit lender providing the information. Indicate to them that you have filed a dispute with the credit reporting agency (Naming it specifically) and provide a copy of supporting documentation of the dispute to that information provider also.

If you are using a credit monitoring system online you may be able to eliminate many of these steps. In many of the better versions of a credit monitoring system, as you pull up the details of each account it offers you the option to “dispute” the information. You simply click on dispute and it will automatically pull up the account information you are disputing. You then has a small amount of space to indicate why you dispute the information and click submit.

After filing either your written letter or online dispute the credit reporting agency will investigate the information and determine if your dispute is accurate or not. They also forward all the information you have provided to the credit lender. Usually within approximately 30 days a decision is made as to the accurateness of the information and the credit lender must provide all three major credit reporting agencies with the corrected information. Also when the investigation is complete, you are entitled to the results in writing; a free corrected copy of your credit report; and if you request it a corrected copy of your credit report may be submitted to other credit providers that you may be trying to obtain credit from. For example, you may discover the errors while attempting to purchase a car or home. A corrected copy will be provided to the lender upon your request. If your dispute is denied, resubmit it with additional documentation or contact the credit reporting agency to determine what information would be convincing.

Disputing your credit is not something you need to hire a specialist to do, and many of those “get help repairing your credit report” programs are scams that are used to obtain your information for their own identity theft purposes or just to make money. Remember, negative information on your report that is correct can not be removed, no matter what someone may offer. This is a simple easy process, which involves very little cost to you. The only cost you incur is your postage and copies. For just a few dollars and a little effort you can save yourself money and permanent damages to your credit report. It’s well worth the effort.

Sample letter:

* Date

Your Name

Your Address, City, State, Zip Code

Complaint Department

Name of Company

Address

City, State, Zip Code

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. I have circled the items I dispute on the attached copy of the report I received.

This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors or tax court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate or incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am requesting that the item be removed (or request another specific change) to correct the information.

Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence if applicable and describe any enclosed documentation, such as payment records, court documents) supporting my position. Please reinvestigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Your name

Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing.)

* Source: Federal Trade Commission



Walter

Lisa Carey asked:


Equifax Inc. is one of the top three consumer credit reporting agencies, including Experian and TransUnion. Founded in 1899 as Retail Credit Company, by 1920 it had offices in the United States and Canada, and by the 1960’s protected millions of credit histories. It changed it’s name from Retail Credit Company to Equifax in 1975 and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as EFX. It is a Standard and Poors (S&P) 500 company. The company corporate headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia but it has over 4000 employees in 13 countries and reports $1.4 billion in revenue.

Equifax has had its share of criticism and has been fined by the Federal Trade Commission twice for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In the years prior to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the criticism involved the extensive and invasive nature of the information that Equifax was gathering about consumers. At this point it was still called Retail Credit Company, and it gathered and sold information, whether true or rumor regarding private information such as marital status, employment history, sex life and political affiliation. Additional criticism occurred because of allegations that they were not only encouraging their employees to obtain this information by any means necessary, but they were also willing to sell it to anyone willing to pay.

This complaints and the advent of computerized records led to a hearing by the U.S. Congress on the subject of consumer information: what can be obtained and who it can be provided to. As a result the Fair US Credit Reporting Act was enacted in an effort to protect consumers from unlawful gathering of private and inappropriate information, as well as providing rules for the release of this information.

Equifax has been fined twice by the Federal Trade Commission for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The first instance involved all three major credit reporting companies (Equifax,Experian, and Transunion) for an amount of $2.5 million dollars for charges that they were not providing customer service during phone call inquiries for information and copies of a consumer’s credit report. Apparently they did not learn their lesson as Equifax was again fined the sum of $250,000 for identical infractions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Recently Equifax introduced a 3-1 Monitoring System. For $12.95 a month, consumers will receive monitoring of their credit report for all three major credit agencies of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; automated and customized alert notification of changes to any of these three credit agency reports; unlimited access to their Equifax Credit Report; $20,000 Identity Theft Insurance policy with no deductible although certain limitations and exclusions apply and a customer service center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Several different additional services, like Score Power, are also available and vary in type and cost from $8.95-$39.95. ScorePower is one such service which provides access to your FICO or “credit” score (not all reports provide your score, just a listing of creditors and financial information); and explanation of that your score means, how credit lenders see your credit information; a comparison of your score and the ability to use the Equifax online dispute feature free to dispute errors on your credit report. An “Interactive Score Simulator” is also available allowing you to virtually determine how your future financial decisions (buy a house, car or add a credit card) may affect your credit score.

Some consumers may feel that the price of $12.95 a month ($155.40/year)

is not a good value for the money and services offered. Consumers should take into consideration that one free three agency credit report is available to them each year, however additional reports may cost approximately $10.00 each. The Equifax service does offer some advantages such as customization, wireless alerts, identity theft insurance and convenience.



Mitchell