I just got off the phone with CSC, the local Equifax affiliate. The rep informs me that she will not accept my dispute because it has been disputed within the last 6 months. The only reason why the item is being redisputed is because CSC screwed it up the first time. Isn't this "company policy" in violation of the FCRA which states they must investigate ANY item--section 611a(1)? I would like your thoughts. Lisa
That is exactly what I thought. I just wanted to make sure that my emotion didn't get the best of me before I fired off yet another letter. The bad thing about CSC is that the rules change by the minute. I could probably call again right now, get a different rep, and get a different answer. Thanks for the input, Lizardking! Lisa
Call again and ask for the supervisor named Tigh. He is a rational human being and has helped me twice. Dancer
there's nothing in the fcra either limiting the number of times you can dispute an item. There is also no time limit between disputes in the fcra. Equifax as a matter of policy daily violates the fcra. Case in point: their standard dispute time period is 40 days: 10 to book in the dispute, 30 to do it. They are arrogant when they tell you of their policy... and their reps don't seem to have ever read the fcra. Now as to frivolous: ... they can label it frivolous and not dispute it but what they're doing is b.s. If I were you, really set them up for fcra violations. Ask (in writing cert rr) for a procedural description for the last dispute... Once that's received, redispute in writing. Submit any docs you have (they'll ignore your info, another fcra violation)... but if you do it in this order you can get them on muliple violations per item... If the redispute comes back either with no dispute or verified... sue them and get 1k plus the deletion for your trouble.
I did what you are saying, Marie. And Equifax just initiated another dispute. They did not send me the procedures used to verify the info. instead they initiated another dispute. And only 1 item that they selected not both items that I listed. Should I wait until the 30th of the dispute or should I send them another letter for the procedures used. If they never supply me with this information is this a violation?
Make sure you check the other side of the page on your updated EQ report. They put a very, very general procedural description there sometimes. I almost missed it, but after going back to check, every time I have requested a procedural dispute, they've put that little paragraph on there. L
Let's use some common sense here. IF they send that generic paragraph they're violating the intent and the letter of the fcra. the real purpose is to tell the consumer how it was verified so the consumer can do a followup... call the same person, write to the person at the creditor's address to fine out what's wrong... and it's supposed to be a little bit of a check on the bureaus to make sure they really did the reinvestigation... the problem is the cras don't have to show you the proof, just tell you how it was done. Fox guarding the chicken house... I had an Equifax rep laugh at me over the phone when I asked to see the letter they supposedly had from a creditor who had been out of business for 5 years... Plus, they're supposed to tell you at least how specifically they verified your info... giving you the list of all possible ways to verify doesn't even satisfy that paltry requirement... so if you get that paragraph... I believe in and of itself it is a violation... it certainly violates common sense
DO NOT request the descriptions again. It only would allow them the possiblity of satisying the fcra. If the 15 days has past, they've violated the fcra precedural description requirement... As the the new dispute, they do that a lot. If you sent them anything else now in writing it extends the 30 days to 45. I'd say let it run its course and see what happens. Once it's done, you have enough just with procedural description violation to send a demand letter (they'll completely ignore it) if your state requires it... then sue them. Expect a fight from Equifax. they hate all these small claim issues and will try to intimidate you... but you have the proof on this one: Equifax can't read... There's a fcra violation for "failing to properly train personnel"...
I agree with you, Marie. However I'm pretty sure that would be their defense. After I noticed that statement, I changed the wording of my requests to read "specific" procudure used to investigate and verify, including blah, blah, blah. I don't think I would go to court with this as the only violation, but on top of various others, its just one more thing to nail them with. L
