1) Should a line of credit be listied on a credit report as a revolving account or an installment account? 2) Is a name and account number sufficient for requesting validation from an original creditor or do I also need to include my social security number?
Can anyone PLEASE tell me WHERE I can find answers to my questions? I am TRYING to improve my credit MYSELF but I feel like I'm shooting blind. How can someone dispute information on their credit reports or demand proof from their creditors if no one knows answers to such simple questions as these? (I don't mean just here on this board ... I've been searching all over the internet.) Not being able find out how and what to dispute, beyond the obvious "not mine," is probably why so many people end up hiring credit repair companies either to begin with or after attempting one or two rounds themselves and not getting anywheres. I'm sending out round 3 disputes today so I haven't given up yet but would truly appreciate it if someone could at least point me in the right direction. Y'all have a great day!
I'm not an expert, so take this with a grain of salt. That being said, here it is: 1. Depends on what you mean by a line of credit. The term can be applied for both installment loans and revolving credit lines. So basically if it's something you can reuse, i.e. similar to a credit card should be reported as R (revolving). If it's something with a fixed number of payments, for which you agree at the beginning on the amount and number of payments, then it should be reported as I (installment). Be more specific here... 2. Normally the account number uniquely identifies you in the creditor's systems. But I would send them all information, including SSN. This way they won't be able to ignore your request based on insuficient info. Plus, they have it anyway....
1. Revolving. 2. Since the account number is unique, and it would be highly unlikely that another person with your name would have the same account, then it is not necessary. However, you could be dealing with a system that handles millions of transactions and probably hudreds of thousands of accounts. They're going to have arbitrary rules like providing SSN-- even though it is illogical in some cases. Nonetheless, if the request isn't complete to their satisfaction, they'll probably bounce you. You could fight it-- using the argument that the SSN is a number created by the government to track retirment benefits, and the lender has no business seeing it. But, if they balk, you'll have to hire a lawyer or the get the ACLU involved to get them to change. Why are you requesting a validation of the account? Isn't it yours?
Sorry I wasn't more specific. It's something that I can reuse, similiar to a credit card account, except checks were used to draw against the account. There was not a fixed number of payments but I can't remember if there was a fixed monthly payment. So then, it sounds to me like they're reporting the type of account incorrectly. I did have a line of credit with this company, yes, but they're listing an auto installment loan on my credit report which I never did have with them (and I didn't use my car as collateral). I need to find out if it's a matter of it being reported incorrectly or if they're really claiming that I had an auto loan thru them in which case, no, it would not be mine. Part of my problem is that I don't have the contract or any paperwork on this (and some other accts) because some of my stuff got lost through moving around half a dozen times in the past 4 yrs. If it's mine then I want to make sure that information is being report accurately, that they're charging the correct interest and fees, and that I actually owe what they say I owe. If they don't have a copy of the contract then how can they determine what, if anything, I owe them? If they can validate then at least I'll know I'm won't be getting ripped off. If this account is supposed to be listed as revolving then they're wrong to list it as installment. Another problem is they have the date of last activity almost a year after I defaulted on all my other debts at which time I'd started bankruptcy proceedings (which I didn't go thru with). I know they're listing the incorrect dates but can't prove it. As far as supplying my SSN with my request for validation I think I'll go ahead and include it because even though they may not need it to pull up the account they may require it for identification purposes before releasing the information. Or maybe just giving them the last 4 digits of my SSN would be sufficient.
