What happens when I dispute an item on my credit report?
Question by Pixie: What happens when I dispute an item on my credit report?
All of a sudden, I have been getting called EVERYDAY from a company called West Asset Management, and turns out they are debt collectors. I always pay my bills on time, so I looked up my credit report and there is a $ 92.00 charge on there from a company called NCO Fin 99, from an account that I have no knowledge of. There were also two other accounts I had no knowledge of, but had a $ 0 balance and were in good standing.
I disputed all three of the unknown accounts, but now I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do.
So, I have a few questions:
1. What happens when you file a dispute?
2. I filed the dispute on Experian, will it reflect on my Equifax and Transunion reports too?
3. Should I send NCO Fin a DV letter?
Do those cease and desist letters really work? My boyfriend gets bugged by collectors for a debt he settled almost 20 years ago!
Best answer:
Answer by bdancer222
Sending the dispute to the credit bureau was absolutely the correct thing to do. It could just be a keying error and quickly fixed.
The three credit bureaus are separate companies. You need to pull your report from each and see what shows. You have to file a separate dispute if errors show up on the other reports. It is entirely possible that these accounts won’t show up on the other two reports.
West Asset should send you a letter within 5 days of contacting you. This letter should indicate who the creditor is and the amount. This is a requirement of the FDCPA. But they may not comply.
If your dispute to the credit bureaus doesn’t get the items removed, send a certified, return receipt letter to each collector requesting validation to include copies of contracts or other documentation proving the debt is yours. Give them 30 days.
If they fail to respond, send another dispute to the credit bureau with a copy of your validation request, indicating they failed to validate. That should get it removed.
If the collection agency continues to bother you, send them a certified, return receipt letter telling them to cease and desist all contact. They have to stop but are likely to sell the debt to another collection agency. You may have to send another cease and desist to the new collection agency.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
