Talking To Your Lenders
In the dispute process, there will come a time when you will have to talk directly to your lenders, and dispute the information on your credit report with them, because they are the people ultimately responsible for what is on your credit file. You should talk to them sooner rather than later, especially if you are struggling with the credit bureaus and seeing few results.
Often, you can get negative listings deleted entirely, especially if you do not owe your lenders any money. These listings may be late payments or a few skipped payments. But even if you have serious outstanding debt, you should still talk to your lenders and explain your situation to them. It is always easier to come to an understanding with a lender - you just have to make sure you talk to the right person and that you say the right things.
When you do take up matters directly with the lender, phrase your dispute in such a way that it sounds like your negative listing was the result of an error or some extenuating circumstances. Better still, if you make it sound it was the lender's error in the first place, you will go far. Perhaps, you may have moved when the payment was due, and the lender's bill got lost in the shuffle, or in the mail. Or, during the time the bill was due, you or your wife may have been in hospital. Or, you had to be out of town during the time when the payment was due, and you were unable to look after it. It is often the case that if you give some kind of reason for late payments, lenders will usually give you the benefit of the doubt, and probably change your negative listing. You are still their customer, and without customers they have no business.
But it is up to you to gauge your lenders - you have to know how to handle them. Do you have to be nice and polite? Or do you have to be a snarling, angry consumer, demanding justice? You have to decide. However, politeness should always be your first approach - you can always snarl later.
When you do speak with someone at the lender's office, speak reasonably with that person, and explain your situation (how it was that your payments became delayed), and what you expect the lender to do (remove your negative listing). If your explanation is reasonable, it often happens that the first person you talk to has authority to remove the negative listing. If not, you will be directed to someone who has the authority to carry out this action. It is always good to be polite and professional on the phone. Always make a note of the name of the person you spoke with, and what was said. If this does not work, proceed to the next step.
Write a letter to the lender and ask copies of your credit account. Most lenders will readily give you this information. Following this example:
Date:
YOUR FULL NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
Lender's Name
Address
City, State, Zip
To Whom It May Concern:
RE: FILE (Give details of your account with the lender here)
I would like to request copies of documents in my file (identified above), namely:
- ORIGINAL SIGNED PROMISSORY
- ALL MONTHLY STATEMENTS
- RECORD OF BILLING AND PAYMENTS
I fully understand that the Fair Credit Billing Act gives me the right to receive copies of all pertinent documents in my file.
Thank you, and I await receipt of these documents.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Signature
It is not likely that a lender will go hunting around in his archives, because it costs him time and money to dig around. Therefore, he will agree to your demands rather than poke around in his files.
If, however, your demand for documentation is ignored or denied, then you must ask more emphatically. Phone every day, and ask to speak with a person who has the authority to give you what you want - namely, deletion of your credit record, or full documentation of your file. But always be polite. Don't get someone's back up. Make "friends" with people, because they are the ones who can help you. Stick to being polite and professional, and you will see results.
If you succeed in getting full documentation, go over it with a fine-toothed comb. Compare what the lender has sent you with what the credit bureau has. You will always find some discrepancies between the two sets of records.
Now, you must latch onto some sort of "mistake" that the lender's office has made. Perhaps there is a contradiction between the credit bureau's records and the lender's, perhaps a document is missing, perhaps you were misinformed about a certain procedural matter by a representative at the lender's office. Whatever it is, latch on to it, and use it as a launching pad for your dispute. It is because of this "mistake" that the ensuing mishandling of your file occurred.
If you're still being stonewalled, and are having problems, you may want to file official complaints against the lender. But before you actually carry out this threat, tell the lender what it is that you're planning. Tell him, you will be filing complaints with various government bodies, if your dispute is not treated more seriously. Follow this example:
Date:
YOUR FULL NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
Lender's Name
Address
City, State, Zip
RE: FILE (give your file particulars)
Dear (get the person's name you should write to, such as a senior executive)
Given the fact that my various attempts at getting copies of documentation in my file have failed, and each of my request has been met with either silence or denial, I would like to make one more attempt at requesting copies of the following documents in my file (particulars above):
- ORIGINAL SIGNED PROMISSORY
- ALL MONTHLY STATEMENTS
- RECORD OF BILLING AND PAYMENTS
Please note that I have already written letters of complaint to the following:
- THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
- BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU (your local chapter)
- THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE (of your state)
- THE CREDIT DIVISION (of your state)
- THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
- YOUR LOCAL CONGRESSMAN
- YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATION
I am enclosing copies of these letters for your reference.
If I do not hear from you in due course of time, or do not receive copies as requested above, I shall be forced to send these letters of complaint.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Signature
In your letter of complaint, you state the following:
Date:
YOUR FULL NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
The Government Body
Address
City, State, Zip
Dear (Get the name of the person responsible):
By way of the letter, I would like to lodge an official complaint with the (name body you are writing to) against (NAME OF LENDER).
My repeated efforts to get copies of all documents on my file have either been ignored or denied by (NAME OF LENDER). I do understand that the Fair Credit Billing Act gives me the right to get copies of such documents, so that I may see what is in my file. (NAME OF LENDER) has continually denied me access to my file.
Would you please look into the practices of (NAME OF LENDER).
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Signature
During this entire time, keep calling, and keep talking to people at the lender's office. It will not be long before you start to see results with this kind of strategy.
If a lender finally agrees to delete a negative listing, ask him to please fax you a copy of the deletion letter. Keep it, because you may need it if the negative listing does not disappear from your credit report. Also, in case you are applying for a mortgage, such a deletion letter will be really helpful, because a lender will ignore a negative listing once he sees this letter, despite the fact that the negative listing is still showing on your credit report.
Honestly speaking, this strategy never really works. Just ask yourself: If you were a lender and you ordered a credit report on a prospective client, and the report was thoroughly negative, but had a 100-word explanation as to why that person has bad credit - would you be willing to give this person unsecured credit? Not very likely. In the same way, if you submit a 100-word explanation, it will do you more harm than good, because it will ultimately verify that your bad credit is not the result of bureaucratic mistakes or misunderstandings, but the result of your own mismanagement. This is not the message you want to give to your lenders. So stay away from this option. Rather spend your time and energy removing the negative listings entirely from your credit report.
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Dealing With Some Tough Situations
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