What is the "correct" way to dispute negatives on credit reports. Should I send one letter with all my dipsutes listed or do them one by one? Also I have account lsited as collections and chargeoffs that should be included in CH7. Should I have them included in the BK or should I dispute them as not mine? I want to be as efficient as possible, but do not want to make the CRA think I am repairing my credit. Any help will be greatly appreciated. I wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year! Matt
collections, settlements and charge off's should all be disputed as "not mine". a good rule of thumb is 3-4 accounts per dispute. any more and you may get a frivolous response, any less it will take forever. whatever you do, don't send them your BK paperwork.
I placed each item on a separate letter, and attached my supporting info (copy of DL, SSN, current credit report extract showing disputed item). Stapled letter and support pages together (so they would have something else to do during CHOD ;-) ). Anyway, the sets of letters were placed in larger envelope (one mailer per CRA) and mailed CRRR. This method had these advantages: -allowed me to save on cert. mail fees. -since certified, gave me tracking for groups of disputes. -allowed each letter to specifically focus on one item. -made it easier to file and track performance. -made procedural demands more simple. -allowed CRA to handle simple items quicker. -gave each CRA more of an opportunity to screw up. -gave the CRAs more work during CHOD (after all, each letter was a complete set, and each was given a separate dispute number). (And I didn't just do negatives, but certain inquiries, questions about report, current employment, past addresses, the meaning of codes in front of soft inquiries, etc.). All disputes accepted. I'll continue to use this method whenever possible to save CRRR costs.
