Responses and what to do with them

To all of your disputes, you will receive the following kinds of responses from the credit bureaus. First of all, another word of caution. If you receive a response that you do not like, you should never, never start fuming and shoot out an angry, nasty counter-letter, or worse pick up the telephone and start ranting. Remember, you are dealing with a very large bureaucracy, not a single person. Chances are, your second letter will probably end up on the desk of a person different from the one who looked at your first letter. Anger is never a good strategy at this stage. It is better to cover all the old ground again in your second letter, and submit the dispute again - always in a rational, polite and controlled tone of voice.

Response #1:

If you get a letter asking for more information on your dispute, you should write a new dispute, in which you repeat what you said in your first letter, and include all the information that the credit bureau has requested from you. It is good to remind the credit bureau that all of this information was already sent to them in your first letter. Write the following letter:

Date:

 YOUR FULL NAME

 YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS

 CITY, STATE, ZIP

 YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

 The Credit Bureau

 Address

 City, State, Zip

 ATTN: (The name of the person who sent you the letter from the credit bureau)

 Dear Mr./Ms.......:

 Thank you very much for your response of (give date of the letter from the credit bureau).

 Please note that I am in complete disagreement with the following entry in my credit report: 

• Date of Credit Report:
• Disputed Entry:

I am also including all information in regard to this entry, as per your request. Should you not receive verification within 30 days, I expect the above entry to be permanently deleted from my credit report.

 Sincerely,

 Your Name

 Your Signature

Response #2:

If you send in too many disputes, the credit bureau will likely not take you seriously, and reject your claims completely. You must respond by repeating all of your dispute and demanding that the credit bureau take immediate action on the matter. Use the following letter:

 Date:

 YOUR FULL NAME

 YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS

 CITY, STATE, ZIP

 YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

 The Credit Bureau

 Address

 City, State, Zip

 To Whom It May Concern:

 Pursuant to my rights, I hereby challenge the credit report entry as noted below:

 Date of Credit Report:

• Disputed Entry:

Please return a summary of your investigation, as soon as you have completed the same.

 Should you not receive verification for this entry within 30 days, I fully expect the above entry to be permanently deleted from my credit report.

 Sincerely,

 Your Name

 Your Signature

Response #3:

If you receive a rejection on the grounds that your dispute is "frivolous and irrelevant", sendthe following letter:

 Date

 YOUR FULL NAME

 YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS

 CITY, STATE, ZIP

 YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

 The Credit Bureau

 Address

 City, State, Zip

 To Whom It May Concern:

Please note that I am in complete disagreement with the following entry in my credit report:

Date of Credit Report:

• Disputed Entry:

Please note that I am fully cognisant of my legal rights in regard to my credit report, and will be thankful if you would honor these rights.

 Should you not receive verification within 30 days for this entry, I expect the above entry to be permanently deleted from my credit report.

 Sincerely,

 Your Name 

Your Signature

Response #4:

If you get a response that tells you that your dispute has been rejected because the credit bureau believes you are manipulating the system, you should respond in the following manner:

 Date:

 YOUR FULL NAME

 YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS

 CITY, STATE, ZIP

 YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

 The Credit Bureau

 Address

 City, State, Zip

 ATTN: (the name of the person who wrote the letter) Thank you very much for your response of (give date of the letter from the credit bureau). Please note that I do not believe that I am in any way manipulating the system; as a consumer, I am being treated rather unfairly.

 Please note that I am in complete disagreement with the following entry in my credit report:

 Date of Credit Report:

 Disputed Entry(ies):

 I am also including all information in regard to this entry.

 I rightly believe that it is your bureau's legal responsibility to conduct a full and thorough investigation in the matter of a dispute. I also believe that your bureau is proceeding in an unwise manner in rejecting my dispute. I simply want to have my credit report properly corrected.

 Should you not receive verification within 30 days, I expect the above entry to be permanently deleted from my credit report.

 Sincerely,

 Your Name

 Your Signature

Response #5:

If you receive a letter from the credit bureau stating that they have begun investigating your dispute, you must wait and work according to their timetable. If after a period of 60 days, you do not receive a response, write the following letter:

 Date:

 YOUR FULL NAME

 YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS

 CITY, STATE, ZIP

 YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

 The Credit Bureau

 Address

 City, State, Zip

 ATTN: (The name of the person who sent you the letter from the credit bureau) Dear Mr./Ms.......:

 Thank you very much for your response of (give date of the letter from the credit bureau), but t date I have not heard further from you.

 Please note that I am in complete disagreement with the following entry in my credit report:

 Date of Credit Report:

 Disputed Entry:

 Should you not receive verification within 30 days, I expect the above entry to be permanently deleted from my credit report.

Sincerely,

 Your Name

 Your Signature

Response #6:

Your credit bureau may send you a letter stating that your dispute has been referred to a local ("pass-through") credit bureau, who will conduct the actual verification. This may take an additional 2-3 weeks. Again, be patient. This time you will certainly receive a response, as "pass-thorough" credit bureaus are never "silent" for long, given their usual thoroughness.

Response #7:

If all goes well, you will receive a new credit report showing the results of the investigation. When you get such a copy, examine it thoroughly and carefully, making sure to note which items have been deleted and which have been converted into perfect credit. The easiest way to do this is to compare the new report with the old one, and take note of which negative entries are missing. It is usual for Equifax and TranUnion to provide a list of disputed entries, and what action was taken on them - whether they were deleted, verified as accurate, or changed to perfect. Experian provides a list of disputed entries at the back of the report; you should compare this list with the one you provided, and then check how the disputed entries were resolved.

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