Dispute Help PLEASE

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by SM, May 11, 2001.

  1. SM

    SM Active Member

    I have been disputing collection accounts like crazy. Sent in the disputes last month and they have all been received by certified mail by April 30. I have given all of them 30 days, which will be up on May 16th. I have heard nothing from any of them.

    Pulled copies of all of my reports. Not one of the CRA's are reporting that these accounts are being disputed. Wouldn't it say on my report that the account is in dispute? Don't the Collection Agencies have to report that these accounts are disputed?

    I am pulling my reports weekly - as I assume this is my only way to determine if the CRAs and CA's are doing their jobs.

    How should I go about handling this now? Is there a specific letter on this board to send to the CRA's and the CA's to let them know they are in violation of the FCRA by not reporting these accounts as disputed?

    I am working so hard to get things cleared up that are not accurate and it seems like I am being ignored.

    Thanks for your help.

    SM
     
  2. Erica

    Erica Well-Known Member

    How is that 30 days? It's 30 days from receipt of the letter. If they received it on April 30, they have until May 30 to finish their investigation.

    You should get an updated report shortly thereafter.
     
  3. SM

    SM Active Member

    My letters are dated April 16, 2001. I guess I was assuming it was 30 days from the date of the letter.

    If I am wrong, pardon me. I was just asking for help.
     
  4. Erica

    Erica Well-Known Member

    I know that you were asking for help. They have 30 days from the date of receipt. If they take longer, which they have been known to do, it is your right to write a follow-up letter. This follow-up, basically states that they have gone beyond the 30-day investigation period and they must delete since in the timeframe allowed, they cannot verify.

    This letter is sent to the CRA's, not the CA's. If you need to send a letter to the CA's, send a validation letter. Just search under validate, and it should pop up.

    Did you send disputes to the CA's or the CRA's?
    The CRA's only have on file what the CA's send them. So maybe you need to send a validation letter to the CA, and a dispute letter to the CRA to get it removed from your file.

    Hope this helps.
     
  5. judyputy

    judyputy Well-Known Member

    Erica is right. Don't expect to get anything back 30 days after you sent it. It normally takes more like 45 days to 60 before you actually get anything back in your mail.

    The CRA's give the collections people 30 days to verify or they will delete. You don't give the CRA's 30 days. By the time you mail the dispute, they receive it...process it.. send the dispute to the creditor.....the creditor gets 30 days to respond.... then the CRA will process the response... re-do or update your report... and THEN send you an updated report.

    Like I said 45-60 days for the true turn around.

    Have you gotten the receipt letters from the CRA's saying they got your dispute? They will give you a date on the letter that IF you have not heard from them by THAT DATE you can call and inquire.

    Calm down and take a deep breath. It will work, but you have to be patient.
     
  6. SM

    SM Active Member

    Thanks for the help.

    I sent letters to the CA to validate the debt and the CRA's to verify the debt. I was just under the impression that once the CA received the dispute they must immediately notify the CRA that the debt is disputed until such time that the either validate the debt or remove it.

    I'm sorry to sound so frazzled. I read so much on this board that it gets confusing at times!

    So I must have read the dispute process the wrong way. At what point does the CA have to report that the debt is disputed? Or do they have to do it at all?

    I didn't expect that I would really get a response from them within 30 days - I just thought they had to report the debt as disputed until they responded.

    Forgive me - I am so confused!!

    SM
     
  7. Erica

    Erica Well-Known Member

    I understand your confusion. The CA doesn't report that the tradeline is disputed, I think. I'm pretty sure that the CRA does that. I have disputed items with the CRA's before and not the creditor, and it has been marked disputed, so that leads me to believe that the CRA does it.

    Don't waste your money by pulling a report every week just to see if it is disputed, you will get a free report with the update.

    Just relax, sit back, and enjoy the day. It will take a while to verify and validate.

    Hope this helps.
     
  8. Ender

    Ender Well-Known Member

    Actually Erica, there are 2 parts to that. When you dispute with the CRA, they will conduct their verification process. They have 30 days to find out if the information is accurate - if they can't or don't get a response back, then they are required to delete the tradelines in question. While they are doing this, the items get marked as "disputed by consumer", and they are not supposed to calculate this into your score. Whether or not they actually do this is another question..

    The second part, when you do a validation with a creditor or CA, they also are required by law to report to the CRA that you are disputing the debt by the least. They are supppose to provide you with the information you request for the validation. If they cannot provide adequate response or proof of debt, then they must also contact the CRA and have them delete the lines as well..
     
  9. SM

    SM Active Member

    Thanks Ender. That is what I was thinking that I had read on several occasions on this board. I thought once the CA got my certified letter they must go ahead and report the debt as being disputed until they finished the validation process - which would either lead them to remove it or provide valid proof of my financial obligation to them.

    So, should I send the CRA notice also that the item is not being reported as disputed and send them a copy of the letter to the CA, along with a copy of the return receipt?

    When an item is reported as disputed, is there a notation by the item saying it is disputed?

    Thanks for the help.

    SM
     
  10. MikeB

    MikeB Banned

    No there is no visible notation unless reports pulled by creditors are marked.
     
  11. SM

    SM Active Member

    Not to sound stupid, but how do I know that it is being disputed? That doesn't seem fair - of course, not much in the CRA's way of doing things does seem fair!
     
  12. MikeB

    MikeB Banned

    The CRAs will SOMETIMES and I do mean sometimes send you a letter that they have began investigating. I get one every once in awhile. You can also call them and ask what the status is of your disputes. Good Luck.
     
  13. Ender

    Ender Well-Known Member

    SM - I wouldn't bother sending the CRA's a letter to state that the tradelines are "being disputed". It would simply be better to just send them a letter of you disputing the items - meaning stating "NOT ACCURATE" or NOT MINE. At the same time, send the validation to the creditor/CA as well. From what I've experienced and read, this gives you better chances of there being "confusion" of the debt even being valid in the first place and if and when the CRA actually contacts the original creditor/CA, then they will be unsure as well which would better your chances for deletion.

    As for having it marked on your CR as disputed, I received my report from TU recently, and it said "currently in dispute" next to several items, so I assume the response from the CRA depends really.. whether or not they really mark it as being disputed, ignore your letters, toss your letters in the mail, or actually do verifications is a whole 'nother story.. however, I've heard when you do apply for a loan whether it's a mortgage or car loan, although the score isn't supposed to reflect the items in dispute, they still show up - which may give you a stronger case if you are talking to the people directly.
     
  14. NanaC

    NanaC Well-Known Member

    OK, I have visible notations on one account that has been in a hot dispute for months. THey are actually being prosecuted by the state of Illinois for their handling of my account/dispute (the collection agency is)...I've written about them before. They have noted on 2 credit bureau reports "Account in disupte/no status."

    My first validation request to them was Oct 6, 2000. To date, I"ve received nothing and lots of lies, all of which the Illinois Dept. of Regulation who licenses them is handling now. They are now being prosecuted by the state...yet, they continue to validate the account (which is not correct) and hang on. We will see what they do once they have to pay $5000 to Illinois and I file a small claims with that to back me up!

    Anyway, my point, I have a notation on 2 that is visible due to this. I should note, this did not show up until 3 months into this thing...so they did not do that in a timely manner (also will be part of my lawsuit)
     
  15. NanaC

    NanaC Well-Known Member

    I should have added..so are you in a state that licenses their collection agencies? If so, you have backup on their noting the credit bureau notation as disputed.
     
  16. Marie

    Marie Well-Known Member

    When I talked with an Equifax rep the other day, I was told that when we dispute items it will note that on the report.

    If we dispute some part of the item, and it can't be verified (or it's verified as we stated) then that part of the tradeline will be corrected. So, if we say "not late" and they don't get any info, then that part of the tradeline will swing our way and be updated... but the whole tradeline will remain.

    However, if we say "not mine" and they can't verify, then the whole line deletes. Course, how many of us have tried to get balances updated to 0 and lost the whole, good tradeline completely.
     

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