I've been trying to read through the board and I'm still a little confused about when I should be sending these letters to the CRA's. Is that worth anything if I've already PAID the debt and it's being accurately reported as "settled"? What could I possibly dispute there when a debt was current for several years, then it suddenly went delinquent for six months, then it is settled in full. I'd love to clean those up, if possible, but it would seem pretty easy for that to be verified since I just paid it. What am I missing here? Is there just a hope that the creditor will fail to respond to the inquiry at this point because they already have their money? Or do I need to start with these debt verification letters to the creditor first and hope they don't respond, so I can then write to the CRA's? Just a couple procedural pointers, please. Thanks...
No such thing as a stupid question. You can dispute anything you like with the CRAs. It's not the same as a "dispute" with a CA, but it should get the CRA to either delete the tradeline or at least verify that it's legit. A common misconception I keep reading about is that people think the CRA will launch an in-depth investigation into your credit history. I've seen people say "I can't dispute with the CRA because I already made payments" or "I can't dispute that the balance is wrong because I already disputed that the name is wrong". When your complaint goes to the CRA, some $10-an-hour peon is going to spend approximately 3 seconds either clicking "Delete" or "Investigate". Given the sheer volume of transactions that the CRAs process on a daily basis, it's very likely that the entire process is automated. No human being will be typing a letter to the OC or CA saying "Joe Smith wants to investigate this, can you send supporting documentation please?" Everything will be form letters spit out by databases powered by automated processes. So I guess the very short answer to your question is that you should dispute away. It never hurts to try with the CRA. Just dispute it and don't give them any further information -- do not do their work for them. Say it's wrong, and make them figure it out. If they send back a letter demanding further information, ignore it. They have 30 days to figure things out. Give them 45-60 days, and if it's not removed, send them a CMRR quoting the date of your request for investigation, stating that you have not received a response, and demanding that it be removed from your report. The whole credit system is at best a mess of loose wire held together with duct tape and string. CAs forget to contact CRAs, CRAs forget to contact CAs, OCs forget to retain documentation, the list goes on.
Thanks a lot! I'm hoping to have all my stuff settled and current at some point and I didn't know if settled debts are the kinds of things I should be thinking about challenging. Sounds like they are. Thanks again!
