This may be common knowledge, but it was news to me. When you dispute something with Experian, and they contact the creditor involved, they simply ask "Does Real. E. Madd have an account with you?" And they allow them to simply answer yes or no. They do not verify the information at all. This was the situation: My fiance' called to get me added to one of his CC accounts as someone that could speak on his behalf or call customer service, not an AU. Well the cc mistakenly added me as an AU and started reporting on my credit files, thus dropping me 19 points. i did not want this to happen, so I called them, explained what the deal was, and they removed me and advised I contact the CRA that was reporting it. I did, and it was EXP. I asked EXP was there a way to get it off sooner since I am looking for an apartment, and I was told no, 30 days. I then asked what if they reply back that it is mine even though it is not. (This was just a general question at this point since the CC promised to take me off and was sending a letter to that fact) The rep told me it would stay on my record and there was nothing I could do as the consumer to get it removed. They said the creditors submit the information to them, not vice versa. i said I know that, but what if the creditor has the wrong info to begin with? Everytime you varify it, it will come back as mine right? The guy said yes, that is true. I then asked them how they verify information in dispute, and he said they simply ask if the person has an account with the creditor and they answer yes or no. Based on that they remove or leave the item on there. I asked do they check the information the creditor has versus the information they have, and I was told no they do not. I then said "based on what you are saying, someone with a SS# that is 1 digit off from mine could have their information on my report from a creditor, and you would never double check what you have with the creditor based on my dispute?" And he said, "Unfotunately, yes. We don't verify the information we are getting, we just report it." Can you believe that! I know I turned 3 shades of red, and that is hard for most Black people to do. I could not beleive I was hearing this. They actually do not even bother to cross check the information the creditor is providing. It makes no sense. How do they expect to report anything accurately? Even if you are disputing it, they never check. This is truly absurd.
Hi, I had read about that on a previous post, but I didn't know if it was true. Excuse me, but I had to smile at the 'turning red' part of your post
You must consider the source. You are dealing with a flunky who most likely has no clue how these accts are verified. In most cases the cra does not call the creditor. They send a card out requesting verification of the acct and the info within the acct. They do ask to verify the acct details. I was told this by the atty for Credit Data Southwest - the local Experian affiliate. If they don't verify acct details, how can you dispute the amount owed an acct and have it corrected? I think you were fed a bunch of b.s.
