Sample dispute letter to remove credit report listing

Sure is a really good example, thank you for taking the time to put it out there for people to use. great job.

I have recently pulled my credit report and saw that it contained listings which do not belong to me. I wanted to apply for new credit, can anyone tell me when to apply for credit? Should i dispute the inaccurate information in my credit report first? Would it be a good idea to send the Dispute Letter by Certified Mail, etc? How long is a 'reasonable' time to get a response?

I would think that 30 days is a reasonable wait, I am not real sure what you would do after the 30 days but resend the letter and keep copy of the letter you send to remove credit report listing so you have your proof in case something should arise later.

Thanks for the response. It may seem like a lot of 'work' but, I'm sure it's ALL worth it.

Usually a dispute investigation happens within 30 days of their receipt of your letter. So accordingly you get replied.

I got mine back in a matter of two weeks they are pretty quick, especially if there is no changes made.

Quick, with no results, I really wonder sometimes if they really look into things or not. I wish if they were going investigate they would give you the information that they have discovered and made the decision on. I think every piece of evidence they used to decide should be forwarded to you, after all it is your credit report, you should be privy to what is screwing it up, not just a straight answer, especially when it has a negative impact, and did not change the result.

There should be an appeal process to go along with this, what if you still disagree after the decision is made. If you still feel it is wrong, you should have another process to follow, like an independant investigation.

I agree with you goodnatured. They should be required to send you a report from the investigation. So many things in the credit world doesn't seem fair or make sense.

I would attach evidences if available with me along with the letter to make the process faster. Hi good did you provide any proof e.g. bills etc. with your letter? Did you mention legal clauses in the letter? If no changes have been made there might be some drawbacks in the letter ( you can post the letter that you had sent, lets see if we can be of any help there).

Good luck :)

Good thinking Justin. I bet this would get good a lot farther in getting results. Hope she stops back in replies.

Most of my disputes have been online, so there is no room for dispute there, I probably should write a letter on paper, the old fashion way and attach the documents to it.

Some times the old fashioned way is better and gets more results.

I have another year and alot of them will fall off, so I have lived with it for this long, guess I can do it for another year. I am sure it will fly by, been real busy, so next year at this time or a little later I should have the last three fallen off and be done with it. and life goes on.

That is along my lines of thinking. I do get tired of just when I think they have went away (junk debt coll.) TaDa they reappear. I get enough calls from the other ladies creditors so I have lots of practice. One of the main reasons I don't change my # is cause I know they will call bro for new one. Then I not only hear it from them but him too. I am at the point it really doesn't matter. I am only picking the battles I can win, which sadly is not many.

I would think that you could send them a certified letter and inform them that the person does not live there anymore and that any further communication about that person would be considered harrasment. Hopefully something official like this would make them quit calling your home or write the phone company an official letter stating that these calls are happening, obviously just talking to them is not helping.

Yep sure then they would just sell the account to some other harassing company. I still like the crow call idea.

You need to do what ever it takes, crow call or a certified letter to them and then to the phone company, maybe if you put it in writing the phone company will take you more seriously also. goodluck, hope you get this all straightened up soon.

It does really get aggravating. I know they deserve repayment but to go to such levels to get it? I remember you mentioning you had a lawsuit pending. Have you ever heard back from them or are they still leaving you dangling?

fireyone,

Try to remember we go through all this not for the 'honor' of paying these companys but, to make them play by our rules. They would be happy to take your $$ and leave your CR looking like poo. The work is making them proove the debt and then removing their marks.

exactly, really we are in no better shape once we pay these bills, they do not clean up our reports any. If you get lucky you will find one that will actually promise to do the pay for delete, but then you really have to follow up with this because they often do not follow through.

Thats what I was trying to say somewhere else on this forum. With my debt approaching the knock off point here in a few months why should I pay? I am by no means a free loader but they never try to work with me even in the beginning. If I pay the old debt then won't it reappear for the next 7 years anyway since it would be like renewing it? I just feel it is best to let it fall off. It would look ugly on my report (which isn't too bad at all) showing it was setttled for so much. At least in a few months it will be off there all together. Does this make sense?

fireyone,

I do understand what you are saying about your debt. I will point out that you are incorrect about the debt being renewed for another 7 years w/ payment. Paid or not the debt wil fall off at the same time. The difference is with a paid debt you dont have to worry about the CA selling it and having it pop up again on your CR

Thanks That really explains alot. I was under the impression that it would be a blemish for the next 7.

Right, I paid three of them off last year, it about broke me, but I got it done, I have one other that will not cooperate and they actually filed a summons, still waiting on a court date.

I inquired about that on another post. I remember you mentioning it. Do they still have you hanging? Are you sure there isn't a statute on the time they have to set a date? I would post the question and see where it takes you.

Well they filed the summons just prior to statute of limitations running out, when they file a summons it freezes the sol, so I am sol, LOL.

I knew that it froze the Sol but don't they have a certain time frame to actually take you to court? I have one that either just hit SOL in May (if it was 180 days after last payment) or hit SOl in Dec 2007 (30 days late). I am worried if the Sol is actually May I have moved since then and what if they sent something just before it ran out and I didn't recieve it? I am hoping there is nothing out there against me that I am unaware of.
If the SOL was Dec 2007 then I would have recieved anything via mail or sherriff since I was still at the same address.

Had a case been opened in May of 07 you would have seen it on your CR by now.

I haven't viewed my Cr sicne Feb. I have one that will fall off at the end of this month and I was waiting to use one of my free pulls then. Another should fall off in Sept. and that is when I was planning on using the third free pull. Hows long after the fall off date should I checked? does it take them a while to take it off my record? It says cont. on record until July 2008.

You are right fireyone. You can pull your credit report anytime after you think the debt listing time is over in your credit report. This is because as far as I know, the three CRAs update credit report every moment. If it says that the record will stay until July 2008, you can drag one report in August 08 itself. If you think that you can wait for another 15 to 30 days for the report, then ask for the report in the first week of September 08. But I think that the report will be updated in August 08 itself. Hope to hear from you soon here.

That is good if they are doing it right away, we wait forever for them to get the negatives off, seven years is a long time.

You aren't kidding. I can not wait till these fall off. I am not planning on getting any loans or anything but it sure would feel good to have them off there.

it is nice to see all of your hard work pay off with a clean CR

You are very correct there and alot of this I have to thank to you and others on this site.

We all learn from each other:) I am happy for you

That is true. I have been more educated since joining here then the past 36 years of my life. LOL.

well on this subject anyway

LOL, sometimes a good thing comes out of something bad. I would not have even cared about credit if I did not get into a bind, so in a sense I was forced to learn about this situation.

I would like to never hear the word credit card again, that would work for me. It seems like such a simple solution at the time of the problem but later it has quite a bite.

I sent a dispute letter to transUnion asking them to remove a "repossession" comment on 3 collection accounts. I recieved a reply from them in less than 2 weeks telling me that they are not required to send me a proof of verification from creditors and they did not do anything about my dispute. The green card showed they recieved my letter on Nov 12, their response was written on Nov 13 with a final decision. It was very disappointing. I reported them to FCRA.

Was the repossession listed three times? Who holds these accounts? One two places can report a deliquent debt to the credit bureaus at one time and one has to be the original creditor. The other can be a collection agency. I can not see why there are three places reporting. Can you explain how this situation is and maybe we can give you some advice on how to handle this. I do not think the bureaus are required to send you the proof. Thast is something you would have to get on your own by sending the places listed on your report debt validation letters. Its kind of like getting a loan at the bank..they can get your credit report but they do not give it to you or let you veiw it. If you want one you have to get it.

Hi Theresa
Repossession will stay in your credit report for seven years from the date of your delinquency. So the credit bureaus may not remove the repossession mark on the three collection account until and unless this 7 year listing period is over. The credit bureaus will verify it with the bureaus and decide whether they will remove the listing or not. As far as I know, the bureaus are not required to send you the proof that the creditors have validated the debt to them.

I thought the CB's HAF to provide proof, to you, how the CA's 'validated' information. If THAT doesn't happen, then how do you know that the CB's even contacted the CA's or OC's? I wouldn't be going on JUST someone's 'word''..ya know?

I amnot exactly sure on this one but I would imagine you would get some type of correspondence in the mail. I remember reading on this topic on another post but can not remember what the answer was. If all else fails the person could call them up and see.

That is the problem with the system, you don't know if they contacted the original creditor or not. Dead debt gets passed through so many hands by the time it gets to collecting it they can not validate it anyway. If you can handle the harrassment, hang in there and request validation.

I keep a debt validation on my desk top and just change the company information on it, makes life a lot easier.

Even though you 'Dispute' items, over the Internet, with the CB's, is it STILL a good idea to send them a 'Dispute' letter, too? I'm sure this would help, quite a bit, with all of those CA's who are trying to collect for illegal PDL's.

hi Amber Brown welcome to the forum

Credit bureaus will require the proofs of your letter which was sent to the CA (debt validation letter) just send them a request stating that there is delay on the CA part for reply and thus CB should remove the bad entries as earliest.

and make sure you also sent one copy of this to the CA so that they will take immediate action and thus your time will be saved.