Dispute Your Credit Report And Remove Bad Credit Information
The Fair Credit Reporting Act a federal law that entitles you to dispute any item that you believe is inaccurate on your credit report is how and why you can remove negative items from your credit history. The myth that it is illegal or impossible to remove bad credit is completely false.
This law explicitly says that when you file a dispute with the bureaus, they must investigate the item. During an investigation the bureau's going to contact the lender or creator of the item and ask them to verify the account, the balance, and the dates on it. If the account is verified, then the details such as the balance will have to be updated.
However if the item is not verified then the bureaus are required by law to remove this bad credit item from your credit history. Credit experts claim that over 70% of all bureau investigations result in the removal of an item from the consumer's credit history.
How Can It Be That Easy To Remove Bad Credit?
It's not! Unfortunately the bureaus have been given the power to decide if your dispute is valid or frivolous. They will only investigate disputes that they find valid. Congress decided to give the bureaus this power.
How Do I Know If My Dispute Is Valid?
Your dispute is almost guaranteed to be seen as frivolous by the bureaus. The FTC website actually provides an example of a dispute letter, however even if you follow this example your dispute will almost always be viewed as frivolous and an investigation will not take place.
How Can This Be Doesn't The Bureau Want To Have Accurate Information About Me?
The painful truth is the bureaus really don't care if they have accurate information about you or not. They sell the information they collect about you to businesses, employers, lenders… In other words the bureaus don't earn a dime from investigating or correcting any information they have collected about you.
Credit Reporting Is A Billion-Dollar A Year Business
The bureaus annually report billions of dollars of revenue. These businesses have no relationship to our government and this money is profit just like any private business earns. To tie all this together the bureaus end up spending money that is otherwise profit for their shareholders when they investigate your dispute.
Federal Law Regulates The Credit Reporting Industry
In theory it is at least supposed to regulate this business and require the bureaus to investigate any and all consumer disputes. However the bureaus have pumped millions if not billions of dollars into Washington and have used the influence of lobbyists to get Congress to give the bureaus the power to decide what disputes to investigate and which ones are frivolous.
This Leaves You Between A Rock And A Hard Place
How on earth Congress has gotten away with this is beyond our comprehension. There is clearly a financial motive for the bureaus to avoid investigations. Furthermore there is a documented record of the bureaus being fined on a very regular and consistent basis by the FTC for not following federal law. In other words for not investigating consumer credit disputes.
An Example Of How The Bureaus Operate To Avoid Your Dispute
The biggest fine that was handed down by the FTC was assessed to all 3 credit bureaus. This fine in total was over $1 million and was a result of the major credit bureaus not following federal government sanctioned action.
This Is What Happened
The credit bureaus were required by our government to create consumer dispute hotlines. This would enable you to file your credit dispute by simply calling an 800 number and speaking to the bureau directly.
The credit bureaus complied with this and they created the 800 numbers and consumers began to call. However the credit bureaus neglected to hire staff or even have employees to answer and field these consumer disputes. In other words consumers would call and never speak with anyone to file their dispute.
Slap On The Wrist
Eventually our government figured this out and as we mentioned they fined all 3 bureaus a total of about $1 million, this is roughly $350,000 for each bureau to pay. Credit experts were absolutely outraged at this small fine.
The bureaus earn billions, yes billions of dollars every year. In fact they report hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter or every 3 months in sales. They collect information about every citizen in this country. And how they can not only not follow government sanctions, but clearly ignore these instructions and operate on their own guidelines is unfathomable.
This has all occurred within the past 15 years and how Congress decided to give the bureaus the power to investigate your dispute or find it frivolous is beyond sticking it to the consumer! This is why you so commonly hear that credit repair is impossible and even illegal.
The Real Truth
In reality you are not only given the right to dispute any item on your credit history but our government and your elected representatives wanted to ensure your ability to do this. This right was given to you originally in 1970 as even then your credit score was such an influential, life influencing, and quality of life determining number.
Today and especially after the credit crisis in our country it has become even more important. Lenders have completely changed their approval requirements and many more businesses are checking your credit. This score is used by not just lenders but also insurance companies, employers, and is part of most background checks.
Stop suffering from bad credit and take action today to correct this. You can dispute any item on your report and at no point in time do you ever have to worry about any legal action because you chose to dispute an item that you know is accurate. The lenders are still required to prove this and show evidence to the bureaus that it is an accurate item.
Where You Can Turn For Help To Protect Your Rights
If you experience the same difficulty that 99% of all American citizens encounter when they try to dispute an item on their report regardless of the accuracy, we encourage you to consider hiring a professional. Many of these services will employee credit attorneys that can proceed with legal action should the bureaus not comply with federal law.
This will ensure that your dispute is investigated and any information that is collected about you is accurate and verifiable with the creditor. Contrary to what you may expect, these services are very affordable and typically run about $50 a month with an average time ranging from 6 to 12 months - however some individuals may need the service longer as everyone's credit situation is unique. For a free credit consultation call 800.298-4297.
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