Do you know that the three major credit bureaus will go through the most number of consumers’ credit report disputes during the holiday season? During this time of the year, the number of staffs in the credit reporting agencies along with the creditors themselves is less in number.
Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a credit repository has five days to contact the creditor after the submission of the consumer’s online dispute or from the receipt of the written request. They are required to do all the investigations within the specified time period as per the FCRA laws. Once the dispute has been investigated with the information providers, the credit bureaus are required to reply to the consumer with the results of the investigation done within 30 – 45 days from the date of the submission of the complaint. They should submit a written report with the findings within five business days after the investigation is completed. If any changes are done on the credit report, a fresh copy should be mailed to the mailing address of the consumer.
The credit bureaus and the credit grantors are required to adhere to the time frame within which the dispute has to be verified. November and December are said to be the best time of the year to fix credit ratings and get negative information removed. This process is usually believed to take more time in other months of the year.
If the credit bureau or the information provider is not able to verify your dispute, then the negative item should be considered as inaccurate and hence, it should be removed from your credit file. Each questionable item should be dealt individually, except for erroneous personal data. If you have several items to dispute on your credit report, the credit bureau will assume that your request is frivolous or irrelevant. If you have to dispute multiple items on your credit report, send each letter separately so that prompt actions can be taken to fix your credit.