The Truth About Credit Bureau Investigations

By Joseph Feross

Credit repair is difficult enough when the credit bureaus follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act guidelines to a tee. When they shortcut the rules, it can become even more frustrating. It is enlightening to take a look at how credit bureau investigations really play out most of the time.

The first thing that happens is that the credit bureaus will receive your disputes. You may send a written letter, make a telephone call, or contact their dispute division by going online. No matter how you choose to begin this phase of credit repair, the credit reporting agency will put your dispute in queue to be processed. The waiting game begins.

Next the dispute you have sent for your credit repair will go to one of an army of low-paid employees with little, if any, training in credit investigations. These people will look at your dispute and make a quick decision about how to classify it. They are required to think fast because they have a quota to do an average of one dispute entry every 4 minutes. These people take their best guess and move on to the next dispute.

These codes are entered into an online system called eOscar. This is a computer-based system designed to make investigations of disputes easier. What it actually does is to turn what might be a very complex credit repair matter into a simplistic form answer that leaves out everything important to the case.

No matter how much time and effort you have put into proving your point, eOscar users will initially turn it into one of these two-digit codes. You may have gone to great lengths to hunt up records and gather testimony from authorities on your behalf. It will not help your credit repair if your information is reduced into these codes.

What is more, there are only so many codes. There is not one code for identity fraud and another code for a debt that has been erroneously attributed to the wrong name. They are both reduced to the words, “not mine.” Credit repair is much more involved than that. The overlap of codes makes it impossible for anyone to get a clear idea of the actual circumstances of the disputed item.

The credit bureau is required to turn all of your evidence in to the creditor. Perhaps they feel justified that they are doing just that. In reality, all they are doing is providing a code that makes it easy for creditors. When the complaint is vague, it is easier to answer it. Your credit repair efforts are slowed down when this occurs.

The best way to combat this problem of eOscar and the two-digit codes during credit repair is to use a system called “method of verification.” When the credit reporting agency tells you that it has investigated your dispute, you may feel that you have not been given due consideration. If you suspect that the judgment is based solely on codes entered into eOscar, you can request information on their method of verification. This requires the credit bureaus to provide proof that they have thoroughly investigated your claim.

By knowing how credit reporting agencies do their investigations on a routine basis, you can prepare yourself for the struggle ahead. You can get credit bureaus to look at your disputes, but it may take you some time and effort. That is why credit repair is seldom easy.

About the Author: Joseph FeRoss is a leading expert in

credit repair

and provide great

credit repair services

. Visit MSI Credit at http://www.msicredit.com

Source:

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