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I'm a newbie who seems to have slipped through the cracks. I had 2 credit cards with HSBC Nevada that were closed a number of years ago and reported accurately. I recently checked my credit reports (1st time in years) to find charge offs on two from HSBC and and additional 2 collection companies on all three reports. On the report that didn't have OC as HSBC, showed Cap 1. I disputed all online before reading the boards to find out it was not the best decision. Also called Cap 1 because I have a CC with them and was confused. Cap 1 informed me that they now hold the other company's cards and could only find my current card. They told me to dispute. I then received a letter from them for each card stating: "We have received your CB dispute regarding card services account. We have completed our investigation and the above-referenced account has been purged from our system. In addition, we have instructed all relevant major consumer reporting agencies to delete ANY reference of this account from your credit reports. Please allow up to 60 days for the info to be reflected on your reports. We apologize for any inconvenience." My problem is that before I called them, 2 CRA's completed the investigation in 3 days and verified the collection accounts (Midland and Calvary). EXP noted the dispute as meeting requirements but never even acknowledged Calvary either way. I think they forgot to investigate it. Also, one CA lists HSBC as the OC and the other doesn't list an OC at all. I don't know what I should do next. Any answers?

After my app spree, I applied security freezes to my files on all 3 CRAs for the personal reason that I need to stop myself with this crazy app spree lol As a newbie, I just wanted to know if having security freeze on my credit report will affect future auto- CLI from my credit card companies?

I was able to locate an archived version of the Metro 2® Credit Reporting Resource Guide from 2003 by the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) on the wayback machine that I thought I'd share for others. This explains to creditors how they should be reporting credit information to Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis. https://web.archive.org/web/20050520070130/http://www.cdiaonline.org/pdf/Metro_2_Format_2003.pdfBackground from http://www.cdiaonline.org/Metro2/content.cfm?ItemNumber=854 This can be helpful in disputing errors on your credit report. Enjoy reading!

In addition to reporting at statement date, it seems Chase is making additional credit bureau updates when you bring your account to zero. My statement cycled on the 12th and they reported a $400 balance. Paid the $400 on the 15th and today they reported again with a $0 balance. It's the second time that Chase has done that with me. Not sure if the threshold is $0 or not. Maybe next cycle I'll try and see if they update by paying off 50% soon after statement date.

I have several baddies that are due to come off of my Transunion December of this year. I was going to write them a letter to take them off, but I thought I read that they will take them off 6 months early. Should I write to them, call them, or dispute online to try and do this? Thanks in advance, Hijomi

I got a copy of my innovis report and it has lots of errors. It says under companies that requested my report both seen and unseen as being "0". So if no one pulls this CRA is it worth the time to dispute anything with them? Does their info spread around to other places that I might not want showing inaccurate data?

Hi CB. I've had several foreclosures outside of the CA SOL. I'm starting to address those entries on my CR. So far, I've opted out, deleted all of my prior addresses, and formulated a Jack Attack Letter for all 3 CRAs to be mailed out this am. As of now, my scores are TU-695, EQ-688, and EQ- 681. Hopefully, this goes my way and Astoria Federal Savings is deleted. @ SBA - Thanks for your insight and continued help.

Hi, A junk debt buyer bought an old account of mine from 2008. They bought it from a pile of old uncollectable credit cards. I sent a letter to the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Transunion) asking them to validate the debts, as all I got from the JDB was a one page printout with my name, address account number and amount. In my letter to the credit bureaus I mention specifically that validating this was a good debt. I received a form letter from them today saying that "The FCRA does not require that the consumer credit reporting company obtain documentation such as actual signed sales slips, signature cards, contracts, etc., nor does it require that consumer credit reporting agencies act as mediators or negotiators in account disputes." This means that all someone has to have a 'proof' of a debt is a printout sheet from a junk debt buyer? Does anyone know if this is true? Or are they cherry picking one thing from the FCRA and ignoring something else from the FDCRA? The whole idea of companies finding out personal information from me and my bills and selling it to other companies is repugnant to me and I don't see how this even became so acceptable. Does this mean I can collect other personal private information on people and sell it to anyone that wants to see it- on anyone? What I'm asking is if anyone knows if this info is correct, and can perhaps site chapter and verse from what law says they don't have to research this other than asking the company involved, 'Is this a good debt?' and them answering, 'Yes.' 'Well, OK then, we'll report it as such.' It seems my request for validation was them calling and asking the company involved.

So I disputed a private student loan last month because it showed a 90+ late when in fact it was deferred during this time. The balance was wrong and it was never late so I sent Experian a mailed dispute based on these two issues. I simply wanted them to knock off the lates and update the true balance and of course they did what they love to do and aggrevate the hell out of me- they just deleted the entire trade line. Such due diligence on their part This account would have been positive- it was a $1500 loan, with a true balance of only $200 and no lates. Do I have any recourse against them as far as putting back my account? Or is it gone for good?

On following this board's advice, I pay my CC down to a small amount right before I know (thought) it gets reported to the bureaus. This past month I had an $8 balance that EX and EQ showed (reporting date is the last biz day of the month), however my TU is showing $400 since I used my card on the 3rd of May… so what gives? why wouldn't they all show the same $8 balance? I thought the OC furnishes the data to all 3 at the same time btw this is for a secured US bank card

Just read about this. Buried deep (and I mean DEEP...scroll all the way to the bottom) in the financial report EQ filed for 2014-Q1 is the following notice: CFPB Investigation. In February 2014, we received a Civil Investigative Demand (a “CID”) from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) as part of its investigation to determine whether nationwide consumer reporting agencies have been or are engaging in unlawful acts or practices relating to the advertising, marketing, sale or provision of consumer reports, credit scores or credit monitoring products in violation of the Dodd Frank Act or the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The CID requests the production of documents and answers to written questions. We are cooperating with the CFPB in its investigation and are in discussions with the CFPB regarding our response to the CID. At this time, we are unable to predict the outcome of this CFPB investigation, including whether the investigation will result in any action or proceeding against us. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/33185/000114420414024604/v374519_10q.htm

Ok so I've researched this board constantly and began my latest repair journey about 5 months ago... I fell into a deep hole back when the recession hit and am trying to make amends. Heres what I'm working with: I have 8 cards reporting, 1 from BofA ($8,500 CO as of 11/10), 1 from Target ($500 CO as of 8/10), Care credit (no balance reported, transferred '10), PayPal (no bal reported, transferred '10), HSBC ($1,000 CO 12/10) HSBC ($400 CO 12/10), Macys ($2,500 CO 12/10), Discover ($3,400 CO 11/10). These all had collection agencies attached to them. Thanks to this board, I managed to get everyone of them (about 12) deleted and my score popped from avg 491 to about 560 today. While the CAs deleted easily, these Original creditors aren't moving... The 2 HSBCs I first disputed via certified mail 3 years ago. Came back as verified. Did another round last year and no budge. Wrote directly to HSBC, no response. Filed CFPB complaint. Been 40 days, no response as of yet. BofA, sent both CRAs and BofA letters, and BofA sent back my purchase history and all of that. Discover and Macys did the same. CareCredit and PayPal (both GE accounts) have not responded to my letters sent to them. Filed CFPB, 40 days and no response. Im just trying to figure out which direction to now take. The CFPB has helped especially with the Collection Agencies (Midland was the worst, owning 5 of my accounts alone) and all were deleted but like I said, I cannot get these Originals off. I have sent them nice letters asking for forgiveness and all of that. I even offered to pay Discover in full and they said too late. If I keep disputing to the CRAs, it will just be tossed as frivolous so I must change up my strategy or just wait until 2016-17 for them to drop and I'd much rather take the former. Any sound advice? Grazie!

Hi Everyone, Okay, I need a bit of help from some of the experts here. I'm in the middle of the usual cycle of nightmares with TeleCheck, and I'm beginning to think I may end up having to take them to court just to get my complete file, let alone fixing their errors. So, I'm trying to put together all of the information I'll need and to make sure I've got my ducks in a row first. I'll mention that I've done a search on the forums but haven't seen anything that's closely comparable to my issue, so hence why I'm asking. If someone knows of another thread where this is dealt with, I'd appreciate being pointed that way. So, here's my issues. First off, there's an item on my TeleCheck report which they've blatantly redated. I have a (partial) report from last year which shows the item dated 5/8/09, and when I received my (partial) report last week the same account is now dated 5/9/2014 (more than a month IN THE FUTURE, talk about chutzpah on redating!). That's the first issue - not sure whether this is worth going after them over, but if I end up having to sue them over the 2nd issue, I'll certainly bring up the redating in my complaint. Now the bigger issue. When I request why report from TeleCheck I don't give them my banking info, full DL number, employment details, blood type, or the key to my front door - most all of which they ask for. Instead, per the FCRA and the FTC's guidance I provide my name, DOB, SSN and address, as well as a copy of my DL (with the last few digits blocked) as 'proof of identity' with my written request for my file. They sent a partial report, but the report specifically notes: "Linked Data: Your record is linked to information not included in this report, which can be provided to you subject to identity verification prior to disclosure. Please contact TeleCheck at 1-800-366-1435 Monday-Friday 8:00am to 12:00 pm CST and from 1:00pm to 4:30pm CST." So today I decided to call and find out exactly what "identity verification" meant. After talking in circles with one of their "Resolution Specialists" she initially stated that they provided all of the information that was in my report, the "linked information not included" was a typo and everything WAS included in my report. When I pressed and asked directly again, she noted that there WAS additional information that was linked but that they could not provide it to me without my complete driver's license number and full banking details. She wouldn't give me any details about what other information they had, etc. Obviously, they're able connect that information to my file without all that, because they've tied it to my record enough to tell me they have it, but are now refusing to release it to me. Short of giving them everything but my firstborn, can anyone think of a way to obtain my full file without resorting to a lawsuit and discovery? From my understanding, if I go ahead and sue and file a motion for discovery to compel the production of documents they will *have* to provide everything they have tied to my file, but I know that's biting off a whole lot for possibly little results. So, my core questions are 1) Is the re-dating of an account to a future date actionable under FCRA. 2) Is the failure to provide my complete consumer report file actionable under FCRA? 3) If I'm going to go the court route, should I send then another request first, specifically disputing both the redating and their failure to provide my complete record, and pointing out the FCRA violations? (It doesn't seem like asking for my file again would be of any point, since they'll just say "give us more info", but I figure a judge might appreciate seeing the multiple attempts), and 4) From some of the folks who've been there done that, is it worth it to file the suit and go that route. Obviously, before I actually sue I'd send them an intent-to-sue letter with my complaint fully drafted, so they know I'm serious, but is there anything to be gained? I'll mention that I'm no lawyer but I'm relatively comfortable within the legal system - I've represented myself pro se in a couple of other civil issues, and have won 2 FDCPA violation cases in federal court with an attorney, who's agreed to look over my complaint for me and advise me, but he isn't interested in taking on this case. Thanks in advance for anybody that shares their thoughts!

Just had to share: I started with the pre-HIPAA, as WhyChat says, just around a month ago, after having foolishly sent a PFD offer (that was obviously rejected). Should have done it sooner - wish I had known sooner. There was only one collection I was dealing with, and it was reporting as a current/open, so was really hitting my scores pretty bad. TU responded within about 4-5 days with a deletion. Got my EQ and EX responses today - both deleted. Thank you, WhyChat, I would have never known I could even try this without all of your information.

So it's been 30 days since I sent my disputes. TU responded immediately with a deletion. EQ and EX have not responded yet. What I'm wondering is - how long do I give after the end of the 30 days for them to actually get a response to me? Are they required to respond? What do you do if they don't?

OMG. I had a paid civil judgment that I was trying to get rid of. I disputed it on TU and EX (EQ wasn't reporting it), and had no response from GW attempts with the OC. I tried WhyChat's method. Bingo! TU wrote today to say it was *deleted.* Wow! I'm still waiting to hear back from EX (I'm not holding out much hope for that one, though). Now I have to work on a paid fed tax lien. I've asked the IRS to withdraw it but it seems unlikely. We'll see. Thanks so much for your help, CB!! Oh, and I also had a medical collection on there that was due to be removed from the report in two months so I disputed that as obsolete. That was removed too!!! Yay.

I'm trying to get a little clarity on this 15 extra days for investigation CRA's can get that I keep reading about. Specifically, what I'm reading is that if you order your report online, then if you dispute something, they have an extra 15 days - making it 45 instead of 30 for them to respond. I'm unclear on a few things, though - so I'm hoping someone can help me understand better. First, a bit of background (in case I'm overlooking something) I'm 4 months out from being able to get my free report again, otherwise I would just use the form at http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0093-annual-report-request-form.pdf to request them. I want legit reports, not third-party, and I expect I may be disputing at least one item on them. I've read that myfico is NOT the best bet since it's a third-party report and may not be as accurate. So that said, I'm looking at the websites for the CRAs' and they all have online ordering. But I'm unsure if I should do this or if I should get a copy mailed instead. My main question is: Does this 15-day extra time only apply with annualcreditreport.com or does it apply to ANY online order? Or is it only if you dispute online? A second question is: where is this extra time allowed? Granted, I'm not great at reading legalese but I can't seem to find it in the text of the FCRA. Specifically, all I can find about an extension is this: (15 USC § 1681i (a)(1)() - so what authorizes that extra time?

I fired off a certified letter to EX on 11/05/13 and it was received on 11/08/13. I supplied proof of the original documentation to prove my case and I have backed up copies of past reports (but I didn't feel the need to send them at this point). EQ and TU have deleted this TL earlier this year but EX wouldn't budge. I had been monitoring the activity through the backdoor and noted that this weekend it was marked "under investigation". Well, I checked today and my last baddie that they have reaged for years is suddenly gone. A total of 10 days since receipt of my dispute and it's gone...is it too soon to celebrate? Sorry if this is out of order...I'm just excited to see something happen to this final baddie on my reports.

Hi All, Thanks for reading my thread, I hope I am not over doing it by posting too many threads ( this is my third one) . Ok here is my dilemma, 1. I had a JDB pop up on my CR, sent Validation they responded. In a nutshell can't validate will request for removal with CRA and they will remove my info from their database. A month to date, still on my CR . Last week Thursday called the CRA told them what has transpired, I gave info over the phone, name of the reporting CA, date of letter the CA sent it to me, and the name of the person who signed it ( which was a manager). Was told to mail it. I did the same day I am now kicking myself in the butt cause I sent it regular snail mail. I was too anxious. As of today the neg acct. is still there and it is not even marked as disputed! Is this a violation? On both parties? 2. Since I had 2 CA reporting the same debt I requested validation from both, last one Diversified has yet to answer my letter, not only that, they are reporting wrong dates, acct term and had the nerve to report one month as no information to report?? They haven't even reported to the CRA its in dispute... So do I: a. send a letter YES CMRR, to the CRA stating that they failed to validate debt, send a copy of the green card and the tracking confirmation from USPS? b. Do the above AND give a list of all the errors that the CR is reporting about this acct ( I read here that doing this will cause them to have to delete it cause its so many listed errors they wouldn't know what to chose from:http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=313560 ) c. or just send a letter stating that the CRA is reporting inaccurate information. List all the errors and demand it be deleted. 3. Will freezing all CR's look odd while disputing? I was able to get my unsecure cc so I am happy for now, I don't want any surprise I ran your credit report like Lexis-Nexis has done to me! 4. I also heard that if a CA do not mark the acct on our credit report as a dispute by the consumer once you have requested validation them it is a violation...is this correct? If so can any one site this violation? 5. I am open to reading any threads that may educate me and help me please post them!!!!! I thank you all for your help!

First time post! Been doing a LOT of reading and I'm sure someone will point out something else for me to read so just know I'm willing to learn! Started a Jack Attack in early May focusing on a private Sallie Mae account (CO) and two Capital One accounts (both CO & Paid in Full) with TU, EQ, EX. Received some responses and some deletions of incorrect personal name and address information and only updates of the disputed accounts. Started a complaint with CFPB in early June disputing the accounts while still waiting on responses to the rest of my Jack Attack letters with the CRAs. Two weeks after filling a CFPB complaint I receive notice from the CFPB stating the following: ********************************************************************** The company has provided a partial response to your complaint number 00000-000000 describing the steps taken so far to address your issue. They stated they are still working on your issue, and you should hear from them again within 60 days. View the details of your complaint and the company's response so far at: https://help.consumerfinance.gov/app/account/complaints/list We will let you know as soon as we receive an update about your complaint. Thank you, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau consumerfinance.gov (855) 411-CFPB (2372) ********************************************************************** My question is are any laws being violated by the extension of time being allowed by the CFPB which basically gives the CRAs 90 days in total (30+60 more days) to investigate my disputes? Also, should I wait and see at this point or send letters to the CRAs when the 30 days to respond to my individual Jack Attack letters expire and request a deletion?

So I am asking while these accounts have special circumstances here. Most of them are due to fall off at the end of the year. I have a mortgage and a couple of Charge-offs. With these being verified on disputes with CRAs, what would be best route to take at this point. - Goodwill to Creditor (Mortgage was involved in lawsuit for illegal foreclsure proceedings and received settlement for NATIONAL MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT) Was thinking about using this as leverage for a sympathy case goodwill - 623 Dispute (if thats the right number) (Should I go at the creditor producing some docs.. account was included in Bankruptcy (Chapter 13) but i didnt finish the repayment plan either) so it was dismissed.) - 1-2 Punch of disputing directly with the OC and then disputing again with the CRA with some other reason on dispute.. - Dispute as Obsolete not sure how Experian takes to these... Your feedback is appreciated.

Hello all... I have sent a dispute letter to Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. This letter went un-awnsered for 50 days. I followed up with a second dispute letter sent CMRR. I have received a response from all three, two of which state that the information will be removed. I do not trust that it will be, as I have been fighting with them for years over the same problems (my father and I have the same name, and our reports get mixed up). I have read that after changes have been made due to a dispute, that I can request a free paper copy of the updated reports. Is this true? And if so, does anyone have a sample letter of what I can send, requesting the updated reports? Thank you in advance!

Experian finally sent Investigation results in reference to a dispute mailed in on June 3, 2013. They received on June 12, 2013 and so started the clock from this date. The Investigation results letter is dated July 23rd so since i did not have a report number referenced in initial dispute (used 3 in 1 site) I calculate where they would have 45 days though i repeatedly state 30 with them. Their results dated letter falls within the 45. I disputed 4 accounts of which 1 was deleted, and the only information in the dispute results along with that is that my RESIDENCE was also updated. Out of the 3 remaining accounts, 1 was deleted due to a failure to DV and they said they would request deletion with all 3 (the CA), 1 was VERIFIED (while it mentions this on the account on the updated report, it was not listed in my investigation results, and the final account (the one in question) wasnt updated and wasnt listed in investigation results or anything. So i have put together this response letter. Please provide your feedback: July 29, 2013 name Street City, State Zip NCAC PO Box 9701 Allen, TX 75013 RE: Dispute Letter of June 3, 2013 To Whom It May Concern, This letter is formal notice that you have failed to respond honoring the requested dispute of ALL the accounts I noted in my letter sent to you June 3, 2013. I sent this letter registered mail and have enclosed a copy of the return receipt which you signed on June 12, 2013. As you are well aware, federal law requires you to respond within 30 days referencing ALL the accounts I disputed and your investigation results. Your letter stating the investigation was complete was dated 41 days after receipt of original letter. As you are no doubt aware, failure to comply with federal regulations by credit reporting agencies are in serious violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and may be investigated by the FTC. Your failure to complete the requested investigation of this account now provides grounds for me to demand deletion in accordance with the FCRA. Obviously, I am maintaining detailed records of all my correspondence with you. I am aware that you may have misplaced this account in the shuffle or have failed to respond to this specific account because of an oversight due to the high volume of the requests you receive daily. If this is the case, I'm sure you'll want to handle this matter as soon as possible. For this purpose, I have included a copy of my original request and the dated receipt of your reception of the original letter I sent with the account in question that you have mistakenly placed on my records. I have also included the updated copy of my report you sent which indicates nothing being done with this account. The following information therefore needs to be sought out and deleted from the report as soon as possible: FINANCIAL ASSET MANAGEMENT INC / Partial Account # xxxxxxxx Please delete this erroneous item from my credit report as soon as possible. Sincerely, Name ss# street City, State zip

Background: All debts are out of SOL. All should fall off within the next year. I have around 15-20 negative trade lines, most are From major credit issuers (OC) plus corresponding JDBS ( the nasty ones). I've never disputed anything. My understanding is that I should start with a basic letter to the CRAs asking for verification? The JDBs list accounts that I'm really not familiar with but I guess that since they are so old, the company names have changed? I don't want to say "not mine" because I have no idea and I don't want a fraud alert. Can I say I don't recognize them which is true? Or is that problematic? I saw Whychats basic dispute and Breeze's sample CRA letters. I guess I'm a bit confused. I think I've read too much at this point and it gets a bit overwhelming. I think I need to send basic letters to the CRAs, Certified mail, stating: I'm not familiar with this creditor, can you please investigate and verify that it is really my account? Then, if it comes back verified (all JDBs update every month) then send letters to the JDBs? Then a follow-up to the CRAs? Am I correct that Whychat's SOL letters are different than the 1 - 2 punch? I don't think I can use the 1-2 punch because I haven't received any recent dunning letters with the 30 day notice. Is that right? I'm hoping to pick off a few baddies and then, hopefully by that time, the 7 year period will be up. Please help me out here. I'm feeling so frustrated at this point. I'm not sure what to do.

What other types of accounts would help with the depth and overall score on your credit reports besides credit cards? I notice a lot of conversation about credit cards but not much on other types of credit like loans and such. Any suggestions or insights? Anyone? Thanks.