The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a law enacted by the US Government designed to benefit consumers. It claimes to allow an average person to challenge the information on their credit report using the basis of “accuracy and completeness.” The law states that if you follow the proper procedures, your disputed information may be found to be inaccurate or no longer verifiable. In this case the credit bureau must promptly delete this information.
Credit bureaus have a “reasonable amount of time” to respond to any requests for verification, usually 30 days. However, if you do not strongly support your request, initially, your request may be found to be irrelevant or frivolous. If your item is found to be frivolous, you will have a very tough time getting the item removed.
According to Fair Credit Reporting Act, a credit bureau must respond in a timely manner. When the credit bureau responds in a timely manner, you then have 30 days to respond to the response. If your initial reason to have the item removed is due to health problems, job losses, divorce, or some other ‘normal’ circumstances, then your item will most likely be dismissed as frivolous. It’s up to the credit bureau to decide if your request is frivolous. This is why it’s so important to use a credit monitoring and credit restoration company. These companies know the exact wording to use to gain a successful outcome.
If you manage to get your item accepted as ‘not frivolous’, it is then up to you to prove that the item is inaccurate by disputing the item, formally. You must then notify the credit bureau that the item is inaccurate and verification is requested.
You see, they don’t make the process and easy. Some would argue that this is done on purpose. It sounds very convincing that you can service yourself and have inaccurate items removed from your credit report. But many will find that the process is frustrating, difficult, time consuming, and not worth the trouble (and for some, impossible). It’s that hard.
It actually takes an entire company full of people and administrative staff to manage the credit dispute process. Even with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, your rights might stay intact however the process is everything you would expect from a government agency. It’s bulky, cumbersome, and follows strict procedure.
While the credit dispute process might appear to be deceptively simple, you might find it worthwhile to invest a mere $40.00 per month to have a professional agency handle this matter for you.