Fix Your Credit History by Disputing Questionable Negative Items

The bureaus are not paid to be accurate.

Right off the bat, let's get one thing straight: The credit bureaus do not work for you. They are for-profit billion-dollar companies that need to continously make money for their shareholders any way they can. The way do do this is to compile payment and debt information about consumers, by charging creditors (and consumers when they can) whenever information is exchanged.

That's who their true customer is: the creditors. And they will do anything to keep them happy. Taking the information from a creditor about a consumer without question has long been a bureau standard of practice.

Government forced bureaus to be "more accurate".

In 1970, Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that enabled consumers to follow up on items they felt were innacurate (or misleading, unverifiable, or biased). Simply put, anything the consumer felt was "questionable" on their credit report. Only when the bureau started an investigation, and made the creditor provide proof that what they reported about the consumer was correct, could the item be considered accurate. But was there really a need for all this hubbub?

Study finds 79% of credit reports have errors.

In 2004, the U.S. PIRG conducted a study that found 79% of all credit reports had errors on the ("Mistakes Do Happen") and 25% of those errors were serious enough to deny credit to the consumer! Turns out, there was a real need for people to ensure the accuracy on their credit reports, because the bureaus were not doing it (and still aren't). They wait for the consumer to make enough fuss before they do that part of their "job".

So - It's time for you to make a fuss.

Sample Dispute Letters

Below are three sample dispute letters that you can review and use as reference when you write your own.

Note: These letters should not be used word-for-word (see What Triggers a "Stall"? below)

	Dispute Letter 1		Dispute Letter 2		Dispute Letter 3

Getting an Investigation Open

Yes, the bureaus are required by the FCRA to open an investigation into your negative item to prove its accracy - but there is one catch. Under the FCRA, they can deem a request "frivoluous". This means they can throw the request out and "stall" the investigation.

What Triggers a "Stall"?

The bureaus are very creative when coming up with reasons to not do work they don't get paid for (who can blame them? They have money to make). Here are a few:

Using a "sample" dispute letter downloaded from the web.
That's right. The sample dispute letters above have been downloaded hundreds, if not thousands of times. If the bureaus start seeing the same language over and over, they can deem it frivolous. Be sure to change the language up, or your case could be rejected.

Not including enough information in your letter
While every letter should be different, there a number of things you absolutely need in a dispute letter:

1) Your full name
2 )Your social security number
3) Your current address (and past address if you recently moved)
4) Company name where the account in dispute is listed
5) Account number
6) Reason why it should be investigated (innacurate, misleading, unverifiable, or biased)

Making it sound too "legal"

Although every consumer has the right to hire a law firm or credit repair company to assist them in preparing letters, the bureaus find it very convenient to - instead of opening up the case as requested - remind people that they can repair their credit on their own. How can they know if someone is using a third-party company to assist them? They can't. They just have to go on what the letter "looks" like. So, using your own words to describe your own situation gives you the best chance to get an investigation open.

Creditors Want to Keep Their Customers

While most people think of dispute letters with the bureaus as the way to remove negative items, most good credit repair services have realized that negotiating directly with the creditors is a much quicker way to getting the results you want. Reason? While it takes time and patience to negotiate with the creditors, it takes 3 times as much work with the credit bureaus (since most negative items are sent from one creditor to all three bureaus).

Best strategy? Get started doing both.

Creditors Want to Keep Their Customers

Creditors might seem like a two-headed beast at times; on one side you'll have a great business partner who is all smiles and wants to help a consumer with a loan in exchange for a greater amount repaid. On the other side, you have a mean teamster straight out of a mob film who will banish you to the dark side of the moon for any infraction. Sometimes you wonder what side you'll get when you pick up the phone.

The best way to make sure you're negotiating to the "nice side" of a business is to write what is called an "intervention" letter. This letter will simply ask them to forgive the small transgression in exchange for continuing the relationship. If you have a 30-day late payment, or even a small collections from the business, it might be worth it to cough up the amount owed and use that as your end of the bargain. If they remove they information reported to the bureaus, you'll get them what you promised to give them when this relationship started.

Keep Your Money Until Arrangements Are Made

Of course, never pay anything unless they agree, in writing, to remove the negative item from your credit report. Many people will send the creditor a big check, thinking the creditor will now take the infraction off their credit report. But once the creditor gets their money, they don't have to do a thing for you.

Sample Intervention Letters

Of course, never pay anything unless they agree, in writing, to remove the negative item from your credit report. Many people will send the creditor a big check, thinking the creditor will now take the infraction off their credit report. But once the creditor gets their money, they don't have to do a thing for you.

	Intervention Letter 1		Use your version of this letter when you want to negotiate the removal of a negative item (late payment, collections) in exchange for the pay-off of the owed debt.
	Intervention Letter 2		Use your version of this letter when you have paid the balance in full, and you are not simultaneously disputing the item with the bureaus.
	Intervention Letter 3		Use your version of this letter as a "cease and desist" against a debtor who is continuingly reporting a debt that is over the statute of limitations in your state.

Credit Repair Services:

Archer Credit has done extensive research into what credit repair companies are legit and provide real results. If you are interested in hiring a credit repair law firm or service to assist you in disputing with the bureaus, please visit our Credit Repair Services page.