Hi, I am totally new to this credit self-repair process and am planning on jumping in to address specifically two trade line items that are preventing me from being employed - a credit check was done and the prospective employer flagged two items that I need to resolve. Needless to say, time is of the essence and I know it could take several weeks, but procrastination is not the way to go. I have read many threads regarding validation and the FAQ's in the "Library" section, to get an idea of how to proceed and prepare for what I am in for. After much perusing, I am a little confused. If a questionable debt is listed on the credit report by a CA (they recently re-dated it as of 5/02), is it not better to send a validation letter to the CA directly asking for required validation and with the information that results from this (assuming they can't validate, don't validate completely as required by law, etc.), then send that as proof to the credit reporting bureau to have the trade line item deleted? In the FAQ's it is mentioned that you should pull your credit report and then contact the credit reporting bureau to validate or remove the questionable item. Since they have to contact the CA in the first place (for you) for the validation information, and since for example a computerized printout might be sufficient for them to go by, they might respond back that the debt is valid. By now at least 30 days have elapsed and nothing has happened. Basically they don't have the same vested interest in removing a trade line as one would have. So is it not better to tackle that oneself and take that step out of their hands, making their job easier and at the same time putting the onus on them to quickly resolve an inaccurate trade line because it is against the FCRA guidelines and illegal? Please advise what you guys think of my apparent neophyte thoughts, ha! ha!
John, Think of the repair as a journey (that never ends) because even after it's clean you have to stay on top of them. I haven't seen any "quick fixes", but then again our journey to "credit hell" wasn't quick either. I agree, if you dispute with the CRAs, you lose 30 days. If you go right to the CAs, and get immediate results (not likely), you still lose 30 days. It really is a crapshoot at times. It's also equal parts of luck, persistence, determination and a willingness to beat them at their own game. My 1st disputes were with TU by phone. They deleted the multiple names, addresses and employers on the spot! No questions asked. When they asked if there was anything else, at first I hesitated, but then I asked them about the 4 oldest CAs and disputed as "Not Mine". In about 30 days 3 were deleted and 1 was verified. There's a lot of advice on ALL the credit repair boards and you kinda have to take a little from everywhere and try different approaches and see what works for you. Most of all BE PATIENT! With TU I play on the fact that I grew up near there. With others I play dumb and ask at lot of questions. Today, it was either EX or EQ that told me they verify by computer, fax, phone, letter, etc. They also said that they verify by matching name and SSN. If that's the case, I wonder how they verified my tradelines when they all have my full name and my report shows my nickname. I'm still waiting to change my name just in case I can use the discrepancy to my advantage. Sorry this was so long, but there is a lot of info to cover and it just takes time.
but then again our journey to "credit hell" wasn't quick either. smogtek ======================== On the contrary this is the only thing that is quick-one screw up report of false info and there you go your report is sacked. These things don't happen over time it's instantly!
Thanks smogtek - I understand it can take some time. In my case I am hoping for at least it either being marked as "disputed" or erased. If it comes back later, then I can deal with it further or if truly validated according according to FCRA rules, then I can negotiate. At the present, I have two tradelines that are preventing me from gaining employment. I guess that is the ultimate downer. Bad credit can prevent you from buying a home, getting more credit to buy other things in life, but if you can't work, ultimately all your resources are expended and then you can't even begin to deal with the problem that brings you there in the first place. It just gets worse and worse. Eventually you don't even have enough money to even argue the point, because even that takes money. You mentioned: They also said that they verify by matching name and SSN. If that's the case, I wonder how they verified my tradelines when they all have my full name and my report shows my nickname. I'm still waiting to change my name just in case I can use the discrepancy to my advantage. Well, that is a good sign of how errors can begin to take place in the first place - don't you agree! However, if they have a social you gave them and a DMV report that matches name and social, then they have two pieces of evidence that more than likely point to you and in most cases is probably accurate, except in identity fraud type situations. I would imagine they use the slightest info that points to a person and then it's up to the person to prove, question or dispute. Not fair, but then again I guess that is why the FCRA rules where drawn in the first place - to put the burden of proof on them once more. I guess we have to remember, that even though they will appear to help us in resolving a dispute, we are not really their customers, the businesses of the world are. They just happen to have to deal with us because of the law, otherwise they would have no vested interest in us in the first place - think about it.
