Has anyone ever successfully disputed an error on their credit report?

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RSweetman_IHB

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Hello All-



I made one mistake on a credit card payment while I was in college and have had a negative item on my report for the last two years. My credit score was a 720 that year and is now at a measly 662. I begged and pleaded with my credit card company back when this happened and I didn't think it would take this long to recover from what seemed to be a minor mistake.



Has anyone had success fighting any of the reporting agencies? Suggestions/stories are a big help.



P.S. Keep up the good work, this site has been a great source of information.
 
Challenge it and make them prove it. Half the time, they don't want to waste the energy doing so. I know someone who did this and was successful....not b/c they didn't do the deed, but b/c the credit company didn't want to bother following up on the challenge.





BTW, who cares about your credit score right now ? Unless you are buying a car...... b/c if you are thinking about buying a house, get ready for an IHB smackdown !
 
<p>Which credit card company was this? One time I paid late, yeah my fault, it was my first offense. I tried to plead with them saying I have made payments on time, and this was just an oversight. They wouldn't budge. I just told them to close my account, and they were like ... wait, what?... I said yeah, just close my account so I don't have to do business with you anymore... how poor their service was to great customers... etc. They decided to reconsider and just do it just this once. ;)</p>

<p>If only IAC apartments had service like that, we all probably wouldn't move every year...</p>
 
RSweetman wrote: Has anyone had success fighting any of the reporting agencies?



Ohmigoodness, yes. For years, I held credit repair workshops where the participants got tons (no, scads) of derogatory entries off their credit reports. Send this form...



http://www.transunion.com/docs/personal/InvestigationRequest_Chester.pdf



...to the bureaus to which the trade line is being reported. State that you "paid as agreed; never late." If the bureaus respond that they verified the derog, write again and request that they provide you with the name and address of the person who verified the derog. Then make the credit grantor prove that you paid late. Wash, rinse, repeat.



In this country, one is innocent until proven guilty--except when it comes to credit. Nonetheless, the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides redress when your credit report "indicts" you. Keep disputing and don't stop until the derog falls off.
 
a bit of advice not pertain to this tread. if you get a collection letter DO NOT call them to paid it. just follow socalgal advice. once you contact the pitbull they won't let go until you either 1 pay or 2 die. collection agency are very nasty and very persistence. i helped a few people get bad stuff off their credit report. sign up for the credit manager and it is easier to dispute. you can do everything online. it takes some time though. plus if you sign up you can run your credit each month to check and see your score go up.
 
Unfortunately, when you dispute at the three credit bureaus, the bureaus will contact the collection agency and alert it that you're disputing the account. Your phone may start ringing, at which point you send them, pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a "cease and desist" letter. Then just keep disputing...and disputing...and disputing...until they get tired. If the debt is legitimate, you could, of course, pay it, but you can settle for full payment (or, if you're a shrewd negotiator, even pennies on the dollar) in exchange for a "delete" letter. Do not--I repeat, do not--pay the collection account without getting a concession in the form of a delete letter. A paid collection account is just as bad as an unpaid collection account where your FICO score is concerned until the paid collection account has aged for a few years.
 
socalgal hit it right on the point. DO NOT PAID THE ACCOUNT UNLESS YOU GET A LETTER TO DELETE IT OFF. make sure that it is off, do not get a partial payment agreement either, that looks just as bad. make sure that it saids paid in full.
 
Thanks for the input everyone.



I mailed letters using a format similar to the one above and will wait to see what happens. I hope that they can find out this was only a one time mistake and that I have been a good borrower for my creditors. I pay all my debts on time (or early) every month with exception to this one occasion. Even after that incident the card was paid in full!!!



Credit reports, ficos, plus scores all seem like such a sham to me. I have made well over a 6 figure income for the last few years, paid all bills on time, and never kept a balance on my credit card. Yet somehow this one infraction holds me down.
 
<blockquote>Yet somehow this one infraction holds me down.</blockquote>


The reason "this one infraction" is majorly messin' up your FICO score is that it results in the dreaded Score Factor Code #22--"serious delinquency, derogatory public record or collection." The FICO scoring algorithm makes no distinction between being 120 past due on a credit card ("seriously delinquent"), having filed bankrupt ("derogatory public record"), or owing $10 to a collection agency for a final phone bill balance you didn't even know about ("collection").



The trouble with information residing at the CRAs (credit reporting agency) is that there are no consequences <strong>to the credit grantor</strong> for reporting erroneous information. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides redress for the consumer, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) governs the CRAs, but there's nothing stopping Master Card from being simply careless. Most people deserve their FICO score but when the system tattles on you, it often doesn't make the punishment fit the crime. On the other hand, if one owes only, say, a hundred bucks to the phone company, why don't you just pay it?!



Here's another resource that's chockfull of useful information.



Achieving Perfect Credit

http://www.fool.com/seminars/ev/index.htm?sid=0029



One more thing, RSweetman...after you pay the collection account off, and if you're unsuccessful in getting a delete letter (by paying them in installments, all your leverage is gone), you can dispute after the fact as "not my account; please delete." Obviously, you wouldn't dispute a collection account as "paid as agreed; never late," so don't use that excuse. Also, there are no other "excuses" that the CRAs recognize. It's either "paid as agreed; never late" or "not my account; please delete." Because the collection agency has been paid, they're not likely to spend any time "verifying" your past indebtedness to them.
 
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