[Brad]

So, I just ran my credit report and two credit cards showed up in my name that I've never seen before. I started filling out the online forms for one of the credit reporting agencies to file a dispute, but I figured I should step back for a day or two, do a little research and asking around (this is where you guys some in ), and then come back to it.

Have any of you had to deal with this kind of thing? This is the first time I've had fraudulent or incorrect data show up on my report; so, I'm at a bit of a loss as to the best way to proceed. Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of before I submit the dispute? Anything special I should note? Should I use the 100-word text field for "Consumer Statement" for anything in particular? It says:

The consumer may send to us a brief statement, not to exceed 100 words (200 words for Maine residents) explaining the nature of your disagreement. Please note that the information that you enter in your consumer statement will appear on your credit file and will be made available to potential creditors. The consumer statement should not be used to dispute credit file information as it may delay the processing of your dispute. In addition, we reserve the right to edit your statement.

Blargh. I hate this stuff. I don't even use credit and the system finds ways to abuse me.

[Brad]

Oh, and on top of that, they have the place I lived seven years ago listed as my "Current" address and my actual current address as "Former address 2". Wtf? Should I get that information corrected before filing the dispute, or does it even really matter?

[torifile]

Are Maine residents twice as wordy? What's up with that?

Sorry to hear your troubles. Keep us posted on what happens.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by torifile Are Maine residents twice as wordy? What's up with that? Sorry to hear your troubles. Keep us posted on what happens.

Clearly you've never been to Maine. (Both sides of my family are tater farmers from Aroostook County Maine.)

[BuonRotto]

Mistakes are quite common to credit reports. I check mine every year (you know to use www.annualcreditreport.com, right?) and little things usually need correction each time, like an extra spelling of my name or my former employer misspelled. Go ahead and have the address stuff corrected at the same time. That's the easy stuff to verify.

It's not uncommon to have extra credit accounts there too or ones that should have dropped off a long time ago. For that, you MUST dispute it though it's not a very fair system. It's not an open process, and the onus is on the consumer to find the mistakes (though they do have to correct them once found). Dispute these with every one of the three major bureaus. The consumer statement means nothing really. I can't tell you much beyond that; I've never had to dispute something that significant, usually just the extra spelling of my name, or leaving off my current employer and address. You probably want to follow up at some point with each credit bureau, and if nothing happens, keep pressing the issue. Supposedly (and I find this dubious), if you dispute something repeatedly, they simply change the report to shut you up after the second or third time.

[jcoley2]

BuonRotto is correct--make sure to write all three. And keep everything you receive from them. The process is long and difficult. They will probably ask for supporting documents to verify the time lines of your addresses.

GL--this process is painful.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by jcoley2 BuonRotto is correct--make sure to write all three. And keep everything you receive from them. The process is long and difficult. They will probably ask for supporting documents to verify the time lines of your addresses. GL--this process is painful.

It certainly is painful to address credit report issues. It took me 3 months to get an erroneous mark on my credit report removed when I bought my condo in 2000. It delayed my closing by those 3 months.

[jcoley2]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend It certainly is painful to address credit report issues. It took me 3 months to get an erroneous mark on my credit report removed when I bought my condo in 2000. It delayed my closing by those 3 months.

I am fighting this with my sister. Her old live in boy friend stole her SS # and moved to another state and bought a car and took out a credit card falsifying her signature and using her SS # and then defaulted on both the loan (car was eventually repossessed and they are coming after her for the difference) and the credit card balance which has not been paid.

She has tried to get the police in that State (LA) to go after him but they have been reluctant to do so. She has been writing the credit check firms to no avail. She is now told (by some one that knows how to fix these issues) to hire a firm that works on this type of stuff exclusively and it will take 9 months and $1500 to clear up!!!! Of course she does not have the money to do so, so her credit is wreaked (420 FICO right now.)

[Brad]

Oh boy. Thanks for the notes, BuonRotto! I'll definitely follow up with all three credit reporters (yes, I used one of my free annual ones for this) and get the address correction done at the same time. The address change appeared to be a totally different process, though, through which they need a copy of my driver's license. Yeah, I foresee making lots of photocopies of old documents in the near future…

[Moogs]

Brad: a couple years ago I found an "Extra" card on my report, but strangely it didn't have much activity associated with it. Probably someone wanted a credit card with my name to use as a form of ID to get something else... I immediately filled out the form and said I'd never owned such an account and wanted it removed immediately. A few days later I had confirmation it was being removed. They have to "investigate" first (sort of like when you report a bogus charge on your actual cc) but most likely they won't give you too much grief.

[Brad]

Yeah, one of the cards appears to have no activity, but the other does, including a couple of late payments. It's that latter one that concerns me more.

[Moogs]

Hell, they all should concern you as any can have an impact on your credit or worse at some point if left to fester. Kill em all!

[Brad]

Well, of course, but I do have varying degrees of concern.

[Moogs]

Fair enough.

The part of the whole process that I think sucks is you can only access your reports free 1x per year and if you want to put a freeze on your credit because of a serious security breech, you have to pay $15 per credit union to freeze and unfreeze them. Well, what if someone screws with my accounts two months after I check? Seems like we should be able to check once a quarter for the generic quality of reports they give us.

Meantime we should also get that freeze once a year too for all three bureaus (i.e. one free "freeze and unfreeze" per credit union, per year). Their entire business model is such a racket...

[BuonRotto]

I've had investigations last only days with minimal effort on my part. The ones that actually involve credit and not clerical errors take a lot of time and energy. You are guilty until proven innocent after all. Good luck!