Many people erroneously believe that credit bureaus are organizations supported by the federal government and are built upon a foundation of laws created to protect creditors. Nothing could be less true. While the government does recognize the need for fair credit reporting, the credit bureaus have nothing to do with the federal government. Credit bureaus are enormous for-profit companies that make incredible amounts of money selling information about you, information that they never even bothered to verify.
There is a huge potential for error in credit reporting, because of this, the US Congress has created laws that protect consumers from becoming victims of the credit bureau's reporting system. It's your right to make use of these laws to assure that you are treated fairly as an American consumer.
As credit bureaus grew exponentially both in size and influence in the 60s and early 70s, complaints from consumers began to pile up at the state attorney general and FTC offices. The credit bureaus only cared to serve the needs of their clients, the creditors, and paid little heed to the voice of consumers. Many people had been affected negatively by the bureaus, but there was no way to dispute and correct the information on their credit reports.
American consumers were at the complete mercy of the credit bureaus' faulty reporting systems. In 1971, Congress enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to protect the rights of consumers by making credit bureaus responsible for investigating every item disputed by consumers. The FCRA set procedural guidelines for challenging items on credit reports that can be classified as inaccurate, misleading, or unverifiable. This federal law requires that credit bureaus delete any listing that can not be verified within 30 days of receiving the dispute. The FCRA also states that negative items (with the exception of bankruptcies) are to remain on credit reports no longer than 7 years, but does not specify a minimum time that they should remain on reports (bankruptcies may remain on credit reports for up to 10 years).
In theory, the FCRA charges the credit bureaus with responsibility to the consumer as well as the credit grantor. In reality, the credit bureaus resist, resent, and reject consumer disputes. The credit bureaus would rather be left alone to make a profit. And, each time a consumer challenges his credit, profit is lost.
The FCRA was meant to make the credit bureaus responsible to the American consumer, but the credit bureaus are more concerned with their bottom line, and investigating consumer disputes does not make the bureaus any money. Because of this, the credit bureaus have developed a standard protocol of continuously resisting and rejecting consumer disputes, making the credit disputation process as difficult as possible to the consumer.
The bureaus' first line of resistance is to erect walls of stall tactics; requesting further information, clarification, and additional identification. If provided with the requested information, bureaus will then reject each claim as frivolous or irrelevant, hoping that the dispute will go away. Bureaus will do almost anything to avoid opening an investigation on a dispute; they've spent the last 30 years designing a system that is meant to frustrate and discourage consumers. Because of this, the vast majority of consumers give up before their dispute is investigated.
Credit report disputation, just like changing the oil in your car, is something that can be performed on your own. But, just like an oil change, the knowledge and effort required to effectively dispute questionable credit items may make it more appealing to retain the services of a professional credit report repair firm. Retaining the right credit report repair firm to dispute your credit can mean the difference between clean credit and more frustration. Years of experience dealing with the credit bureaus and creditors is the key to effective credit repair.
Every person's situation is different. Fill out the form below to talk to a credit expert today and learn if credit report repair is right for you. There is no obligation and the call is free.