Ok to dispute a CC balance to get it reported sooner than the normal reporting date?

[Anonymous]

I just paid off all my Credit Cards and was thinking about doing a dispute as balance incorrect so that it could be reported with the new $0 balance instead of waiting till end of month for the update. Is this OK to do?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't...

Besides which they can take up to 45 days to respond to a dispute which is going to be longer than it would be until your balance would update anyway.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wouldn't...

Besides which they can take up to 45 days to respond to a dispute which is going to be longer than it would be until your balance would update anyway.

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Correct!

[Anonymous]

I have disputed balances before on occassion.  Usually it updates within a few days on many CC's, but it has taken longer on some

I've never had an online balance dispute take 45 days.  Usually I have had it take up to 2 weeks with one exception. 

But, there is no guarantee.

[emoticon]

You can dispute, but I've used another method.  Request a CLI (soft pull only) and they report the card limit and balance right away.  BOA does that, Discover did it, Citi did it.  You can try that.

[Watchmann]

Why do you want to do this?  Do you have a real need to have it updated before next month, or are you just impatient to see the results?  If it is the latter I think you are crazy to do it.  Cool your jets and let it work in its normal cycle.  The less intervention you do, especially disputing things, the better.  We spend too much time micromanaging these FICO scores, imo. 

Message Edited by Watchmann on 06-07-2009 08:05 AM

[haulingthescoreup]

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CyndibemyLOVE wrote:
I just paid off all my Credit Cards and was thinking about doing a dispute as balance incorrect so that it could be reported with the new $0 balance instead of waiting till end of month for the update. Is this OK to do?

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The balance showing isn't incorrect. It's the balance as of the last update. Claiming that it is incorrect would be unethical IMO.

If the old balance still displays when they update again, or if they don't update within 4-5 days after they normally do, then it would be appropriate to dispute.

Disputes need to be handled with care. At a minimum, you're likely to to labeled by the bureaus as a "frivolous disputer", and then good luck when you need to make a legitimate dispute.

[tiger67]

There is another option depending on who the lender is. You can call and request a "mid cycle update" to the credit reporting agencies. Some do, some don't. Speaking from experience, Capitol One and HSBC won't, but Citi will.

[Creditaddict]

I disputed balance once with an old citi card and the account got deleted off my reports and NEVER came back for the 5 years I had the account. I would not recommend disputing something trying to beat the system