I disputed an account in writing with the CRA. The CRA investigated, said the information was verified, and continued to report the inaccurate information. I then wrote the CRA another letter (two pages long) with a detailed explanation of my dispute and another request for reinvestigation. The CRA investigated again, and the inaccurate information was still not removed. I did not characterize my letter as a "statement of dispute," nor did I ask the CRA to include any statement on my credit report. Incidentally, the inaccurate information remained on my credit report until I had disputed it 5 times (three times by telephone). The CRA did not indicate on any report at any time, including reports published after the second dispute letter, that the account was being disputed. Is there any authority that establishes whether a second request for reinvestigation is considered a statement of dispute, even if the consumer does not so specify? Was the CRA required to indicate on the report that I was disputing the account, even if I did not ask them to include a statement? Thanks!
If they claim they "investigated", whether they actually did anything at all, then they treated it as a "dispute". Did they claim one of your disputes never happened?
The queston is not whether a request for reinvestigation is a dispute (that, I suppose, is clearly true), but whether a "statement of dispute" is a term of art under 1681i(b-c) that refers to a statement that is intended to be placed in the credit report and that expresses such an intent by the consumer. The fact that the phrase "statement of dispute" is used in 1681(b-c), rather than just the word "dispute," suggests that phrase was intended to have some specific construction. I'd like to know what construction the courts have given it.
Did you request that the CRA include your consumer statement in your report, or did you ask that they investigate the disputed item using the information you provided?
So if I understand correctly, you submitted a dispute, and instead of investigating it as you requested, they just put it on your reports as a consumer statement? A dispute is a dispute, a consumer statement is a consumer statement. FCRA separately refers to each. They are not the same. CRAs act in arbitrary manners, whether by accident or design. They only respond to you because the law says they must. You are not their customer. Your future is in the hands of the least competent hourly clerk. What is the basis of the erroneous information you want corrected? What are you reporting, and what should it be? Is the resulting damage enough to make it more than a bad joke?
You do not understand correctly, although I deeply appreciate your efforts to help me. You seem to have it backwards. They claim to have investigated my dispute. The dispute did not resolve the issue. I disputed again. They supposedly investigated again. My question is, were they required to indicate on my report that the account was being disputed? They did not do so. The basis for my dispute? In brief, I settled the account in April 2003. They continued to report it, until October of 2005, as delinquent 180 days every month AFTER settlement, even though they noted the account as "settled in full." And, after I disputed it, they removed the "settled in full notation" and the $0 balance notation, and indicated that I had a balance and a past due balance. After six months, five disputes, and several denials of credit, they finally corrected the misinformation.
