DO NOT Dispute your Credit Report Online on the Credit Bureau Website! Pitfalls for attempting to do it yourself ONLINE
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you the consumer can dispute any incomplete or inaccurate information you find in your credit report. The credit reporting agency is mandated to investigate all disputed errors, unless your disputes are false claims. Any information identified as inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable must be removed within 30 days of receipt of your claim. Any outdated negative information must also be deleted from the report. The agency must also report those deletions back to the creditors that provided the data in the first place, so they can record your deletions in their data. This law was created to protect consumer credit, but has some loopholes which credit bureaus will use to their advantage.
Credit Bureaus now have an automated online system that supposedly “helps” the consumer dispute errors on their credit reports, but don’t be fooled. The online system is deceptive. You think it benefits you, when it actually undermines your credit repair efforts. This automated system allows the consumer to log into the site to enter their disputes in a “seemingly” more expedited way. But beware! It forces you to enter your dispute in limited 3 digit code categories. Using the automated system, there is no place for you to send all the relevant information needed to investigate the dispute, and preventing the creation of your paper trail which would allow you to track results and prove any agency non-compliance.
The online system was designed for the credit reporting agency to gain advantage over the consumer by exploiting loopholes in the FCRA. This more “expeditious” process enables the consumer reporting agency to avoid 3 rules that are crucial to consumer protection when disputing credit reports. The FCRA states that when the consumer uses the online dispute process, the credit reporting agency DOES NOT have to: 1) forward your information to creditors, enabling re-reporting of removed items in the next reporting cycle and re-insertion into your report without notice to you, 2) provide you with written results of your disputes, 3) provide you with the “method of verification” of the disputed item. The online automated dispute process allows credit reporting agencies to “respond” quickly within the 30 day limit without conducting a full investigation of the disputed items, leaving you without recourse.
It is crucial that if you attempt to repair your own credit without using a Credit Repair Expert, that you use hard copy methods and use snail mail that will leave a paper trail that can be tracked. Check all of your mail daily during the credit repair process, and keep it in a file in the order it was received. If you should need the help of a Legal Credit Repair Service check out our website or call to speak to a live Credit Advisor. We offer a free credit audit and consultation. Toll free 1-800-216-2725.
