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ERASING NEGATIVE REMARKS FROM YOUR CREDIT RATING - Part IIThe credit profile and the explanation pamphlet sent by the reporting agency list, step-by-step, an exhaustive process you must follow to correct an item on your report. While this process may be the company's requirement, it is not that of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. United States Code section 15, §1681i(a) states, "If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in his file is disputed by a consumer, and such dispute is directly conveyed to the consumer reporting agency by the consumer, the consumer reporting agency shall within a reasonable period of time reinvestigate and record the current status of that information . . . If after such [investigation] such information is found to be inaccurate or can no longer be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete such information ..." This means that if you dispute a piece of information contained on your profile and the information cannot be verified, IT MUST BE REMOVED! Some estimate that it costs the credit companies approximately $100 to investigate each disputed piece of information. In many cases it is more cost effective for them to simply delete the information rather than to investigate it. Also, information frequently cannot be verified because of the time that has elapsed, the creditor may be out of business, or records have been archived and are not readily available. In any case, the odds are in your favor that information cannot or will not be verified, which will result in the data being removed from your credit report -- permanently! There is a quirk in the law that could work against you. The credit agency can label your request to have your information verified as "frivolous." And the Fair Credit Reporting Act does not define the term frivolous. Black's Law Dictionary defines the term as, "Of little weight or importance . . . [a groundless claim whose purpose is] to embarrass the opponent ..." If you submit a laundry list of disputed items, there exists a greater probability that your inquiry will be dismissed as frivolous. Credit repair services that mail out a high volume of credit bureaus dispute letters rely on this law. |
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