Consumer Law

Why Should I Bother Writing a Letter When I Can Call or Email?

By Kemnitzer, Anderson, Barron, Ogilvie & Brewer

Frequently people ask me how they can get the credit bureaus to correct inaccurate information on their credit reports. I always tell them to dispute inaccurate credit reports via letter sent Certified Mail, Return Receipt. Why do that, you ask, when I can dispute on-line or by phone? If you look at their websites, you know the credit bureaus encourage consumers to phone or email. It is almost impossible to find an address to mail a written dispute letter to.

There are COMPELLING REASONS to do your disputes in WRITING, Certified Mail, Return Receipt. If you have put it in writing and kept a copy and obtained a receipt you can prove exactly what information you provided and that they received it.

You want to provide the credit bureau with as much information as possible so it can conduct a thorough investigation. If you have names and phone numbers of people they should contact, provide them. If you have documents that prove your claims, enclose copies.

Sending a written dispute letter does not guarantee that they will fix your report, but if they don't you at least have solid evidence to support your lawsuit. Phone conversations and emails are hard to prove. You don't have as good a record and the credit bureaus can dispute what you said. Emails get lost. You don't get any proof that they received them.

Please keep copies of everything you sent with the dispute letter, including all enclosures and a copy of your signed letter. (Sometimes it is important for them to have your signature so they can compare it to the signature on the fraudulent account you are disputing.) Your file copy of the dispute letter should be an exact duplicate of what you placed in the envelope to the credit reporting agency.

If Experian, Equifax or TransUnion are reporting accounts that are not yours -- either mixed files or fraudulent accounts -- and they will not correct it, give me a call. Those are good cases.

Full post as published by California Credit Law Blog on December 10, 2010 (boomark / email).