How To Dispute Credit Report Errors
Wipe Out DebtIn 1938 a federal law was passed known as the Wage Earner Plan. It is administered by the same branch of our courts that ..... FTC - April 1996
Your credit report contains information about where you work and live and how you pay your bills. It also may show whether you've been sued or arrested or have filed for bankruptcy. Companies called credit reporting agencies (CRAs) or credit bureaus compile and sell your credit report to businesses. Because businesses use this information to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, and employment, it's important that the information in your report is complete and accurate.
Getting Your Credit Report
If you've been denied credit, insurance, or employment because of information supplied by a CRA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) says the company you applied to must give you the credit agency's name and address. If you contact the agency for a copy of your report within 30 days of receiving a denial notice, the report is free.
If you simply want a copy of your report, call the CRAs listed in the Yellow Pages under 'credit' or 'credit rating and reporting.' Because more than one CRA may have a file on you, call each one listed until you locate the agencies maintaining your file. Expect to pay a reasonable charge for each report.
Many of your rights under the FCRA will change September 30, 1997. A new brochure explaining these rights will be available from the FTC then.
Correcting Errors
Under the FCRA, you have the right to dispute the completeness and accuracy of information in your credit file. When you contact the reporting agency to dispute information in your report, the agency must reinvestigate and record the current status of the disputed items within a 'reasonable period of time,' unless they believe the dispute is 'frivolous or irrelevant.' If the credit reporting agency can't verify a disputed item, they must delete it.
If your report contains erroneous information, the CRA must correct it. If an item is incomplete, the CRA must complete it. For example, if your file shows that you were late in making payments on accounts, but fails to show that you are no longer delinquent, the CRA must correct the report to show that your payments now are current. Or if your file shows an account that belongs only to another person, the CRA would have to delete it. Also, if you request, the CRA must send a notice of correction to anyone who received your report in the past six months. Job applicants can have a corrected copy of their report sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years.
If a reinvestigation doesn't resolve your dispute, the law allows you to file a statement of up to 100 words to explain your side of the story. The CRA must include the statement with every request for your report. CRA staff can help you prepare the statement.
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