I am SO PISSED!!! This from Trans Union on behalf of my dh. "We recently received a dispute regarding your credit report from a third party that we beilieve operates as a credit repair organization. We have reasonably determined that the dispute submitted on your behalf is frivolous or irrelevant. For these reasons, we will not take action on the dispute." They sent a standard form along and want me to use that if I actually have a dispute. Of COURSE I have a dispute. The stuff is NOT being listed correctly!!! Anyway..this was my letter to the cras. Trans Union PO Box 1000 Chester PA 19022-1000 December 5, 2003 To Whom it May Concern, This letter is a formal complaint that you are reporting inaccurate and incomplete credit information. The following information is not being reported accurately so therefore needs to be reinvestigated. Associates This account is being reported with a balance owing of $1118.00. I owe this company NOTHING. Please reinvestigate and delete. Associates Finance This account is being reported with a balance owing of $1094.00. I owe this company NOTHING. Please reinvestigate and delete. Citifinancial-330933 This account is not mine. Please delete. Daimler Chrysler This account is being reported with a balance owing of $5654.00. I owe this company NOTHING. Please reinvestigate and delete. CB&T This account is not mine. Please delete. Providian This account is not mine. Please delete. US Bank This account is being reported with a balance owing of $5697.00. I owe this company NOTHING. Please reinvestigate and delete. Under federal law, you have thirty (30) days to complete your reinvestigation. I will look forward to hearing from you within 30 days. Sincerely, my dh. What do I do now? I can use my own letter to dispute right? I mean it IS my right is that correct?? Do I resubmit the same letter with a little bit extra thrown in?? This is NOT right. The first 3 accounts listed in the dispute are actually the SAME account listed 3 times. The others with balances reported were IIB and do NOT have a balance owing. I'm ready to go to WAR. Just someone PLEASE tell me how to go about it. daisy
Did someone sign the original letter to them? And how long has it been? If it was signed, that makes their credit repair agency assertion absurd. Also, it seems to me that it's either a 3rd party (nothing illegal there, BTW) OR it's frivalous - they should make up their mind. Here's what I would do - I would let the 30 days go and then proceed w/out responding to their letter. Alternatively, I would write them, tell them I'm in receipt of their note and they still have 30 days to complete their investigation. That's why I'd refrain on replying - let them hang themselves. Then you assert the 30 day period is over and do an ITS. You'll get them all deleted.
Hi Daisy: I read your post regarding Transunion and your dispute and may be able to help you out. First, I am not an expert in this field, but have my fair share of disputing items on my credit reports. I have had wonderful experiences with all three credit bureaus and they all helped me fix the errors very quickly. First and foremost, the letter that you sent was a standard dispute letter that almost seems threatening. One thing I have learned dealing with these companies is, you get a lot further with them with kindness. Don't use those standard letters and don't tell them that they have 30 days. They know this. Make it more personal, something you have written. Next, if you have DEFINITELY paid off those accounts that are still showing up not paid, SEND PROOF. If you have a letter from the company saying that you paid it in full, send a copy to the credit bureaus. If you do not have a letter, get one from the companies immediately. Do not count on them to fix your credit report. They won't (the companies). If the accounts are not yours, get a letter from the companies proving they are not yours and send that letter to the credit bureaus. Believe me, I have been working on fixing my credit for months, and even the hardest cases have now been fixed. Again, kindness towards these companies works best. The credit bureaus really will work with you and help take off anything that is not accurate. If you still have problems, let me know. My email address is rhs8600@aol.com Rebecca
Dh signed the letter in his very own handwriting. LOL Anyway...So I shouldn't respond right away but wait 30 days and tell them I'm in receipt of their note? And then give them another 30 days to investigate? Or should I respond right away to let them know I have their note? Give them the rest of the 30 day time period (they received the letters on Dec. 8) And tell them to investigate and if they don't, send an ITS? Thanks! daisy
You gave them 30 days to investigate. Sending you that form is not investigation. After 30 days if they still have not investigated, send an ITS. More than likely they will delete. That form they sent you is to scare off the amateurs. It will turn out to your advantage that they sent you out the friv form rather then investigate. By not investigating they are in violation.
Ok. I'll give them until January 8th to investigate and then I'm sending an ITS. Thanks for the advice! daisy
had the exact same thing happen to my sister after I mailed out disputes on her behalf from MY city's post office. (I really should've known I guess) I think they have these minimum wage workers weed thru these huge batches of disputes, and tell them if the postmark doesnt match the return address, send back the 'third party/credit repair organization' form letter. I told my sister that we'll just have to send another letter telling them they still have until XX date to complete their investigation, and then let them hang themselves. here's my concern tho: her letter stated "According to the FTC, credit reporting agencies are not required to process disputes submitted by third parties." is this true??? I'm off to search the board.
a paid collection is just as bad as an unpaid one (as far as your score is concerned.) If you just need it to say 'paid' because a mortgage lender wants it that way, fine, send proof. but remember, if you do that, you'll be self-verifying that the account is yours. Then it will be really hard to have it deleted later.
Since they are guessing you are using a 3rd party, that is all it is a guess. Sometimes when you guess you can be wrong. Make sure you tell them in your ITS letter that you plan on proving to the judge that you did not use a 3rd party.
Well I'm "guessing" that it's not going to be too hard to prove to a judge that I didn't use a 3rd party. ;-) And I can sue them because they didn't dispute the errors on my report? I don't mean to sound dense but it seems to me that they would be a little more cooperative if they know they can be sued for stuff like this. Or is it because people aren't aware? I'm amazed at what I've learned so far. daisy
I guess more people use credit repiar services then use this forum. So I bet the letter they sent out works for them in most cases. But in your case it is going to cost them $1000. I guess it is the rick they take. I just sent out a bunch of val letters for my DWTB, any of them come back with the 'you are using repair' letter will get an ITS on day 31. No 2nd or 3rd letter. They are going to delete, or they are going to court.
Well as far as I'm concerned, this forum is an invaluable resource. I want to thank you for all your advice. And I'm sure I'm going to need more down the road. It's just the beginning.... daisy
"According to the FTC, credit reporting agencies are not required to process disputes submitted by third parties." somebody help me out here.... where exactly does the FTC say this? in an opinion letter somewhere? and, do they say 'if a CRA believes it was submitted by a 3rd party'? i really want to know exactly how this is worded. thanks.
Re: Re: results of my dispute letter HELP!! WAHHH. Somebodyyy...pleeeeseee help meeee....[/whine] I've read all the FTC opinion letters that could remotely pertain to this, but I can't find this particular 'third party' reference....anyone know where this might be??? also....I believe they DO have an extra 15 days if I write a letter telling them it wasn't from a third party. Tell me I'm wrong and why.
Re: Re: results of my dispute letter HELP!! That's why I've seen people say to wait for the 35th day from the green card date, and *THEN* send the "Listen here you moron, I AM NOT A THIRD PARTY." letter... If they didn't investigate the first time, then they're in violation. BTW: it doesn't say that they aren't required to investigate third party disputes.
Re: Re: Re: results of my dispute letter HELP!! "IF YOU THINK I'M TOO STUPID TO WRITE MY OWN LETTER...THAN YOU ARE STUPIDER THAN I THOUGHT." "YOUR PROBLEMS YOU HAVE AGAINST 3rd PARTY CRO'S IS FRIVIOULOUS ANYWAY."
Re: Re: Re: results of my dispute letter HELP!! They only get 15 extra days if you provide them 'new' information about your dispute. Telling them you are not using a 3rd party, is not relevant to the dispute itself. Therefore they do not get the extra 15 days.
Re: Re: Re: results of my dispute letter HELP!! Or, if they get it by the 30th day, they'll only have 15 more days (which really isnt very much time) and she (my sister) will have sent 'notice' that she didnt use a third party. Not necessarily...I think this depends on what the FTC says, which is why I'm so desperately trying to find it. GOOD POINT!! THANKS.
I have been saying this since day 1 and I get shot down every time. Stop using these standard form letters! The CRA's have seen them all. Use the form letters as a template - if you must send a letter. I would simply call them up and speak person to person with them. Explain my situation and make them sympathize with me. That worked for me everytime.
